Information About Upgrading Windows Media Services 4.1 to Windows Media Services 9 Series (305366)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows Media Services 9 Series
This article was previously published under Q305366
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256986 Description of the Microsoft Windows registry

SUMMARY

Windows Media Services 9 Series is available with Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition, Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition, or Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition. You can upgrade your operating system from either Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0 or Windows 2000 Server. If you are running Windows Media Services version 4.1, it is upgraded to the latest version automatically when you upgrade the operating system.

If you are installing Windows Media Services for the first time, the server is set up with a base configuration, which includes a default on-demand publishing point and a sample broadcast publishing point.

If you are upgrading from Windows Media Services 4.1, your previous configuration is moved over to the new version of Windows Media Services through a process called migration. Much of the previous configuration is migrated over to this version, such as on-demand publishing points. However, this version contains design improvements and features that were not available in version 4.1, and several elements of the previous configuration must be modified to work in the new environment. For example, broadcast stations and programs from Windows Media Services 4.1 are reconfigured as broadcast publishing points and playlists in this version. There might also be elements of your existing configuration that you need to change manually. For example, Windows Media Services no longer supports distribution using the Media Stream Broadcast Distribution (MSBD) protocol, so you must manually change any Windows Media metafiles or Windows Media Encoder configurations that use this protocol to the HTTP protocol.

This article describes the migration process. This process is mostly automatic; however, understanding how migration works can help you quickly get started using this version of Windows Media Services. When the upgrade process finishes, an upgrade log file is created that provides details of the migration.

MORE INFORMATION

Overview

The upgrade process migrates as much as possible of the existing Windows Media Services 4.1 configuration with few or no changes. In cases where conversions are necessary, the upgrade process changes only what is necessary and migrates as much of the existing content and configuration as possible.

The following table provides a general overview of how the migration process affects version 4.1 elements: 
  Version 4.1 Element            Migrates To:
-------------------------------------------------------------- 
  Publishing points              Publishing points
  Stations                       Broadcast Publishing Points
  Programs                       Playlists
  Streams                        MEDIA Elements in Playlists
The use of publishing points has not changed from version 4.1 to this version of Windows Media Services. A version 4.1 on-demand publishing point is still an on-demand publishing point in this version. However, the use of stations, programs, and streams for broadcasting has changed substantially from the previous version of Windows Media Services. In this version, all broadcasting is handled by using broadcast publishing points and playlists. If you want to broadcast by using multicast delivery, you enable a multicast data writer plug-in on a broadcast publishing point. During the upgrade process, stations are migrated to broadcast publishing points, and the programs and streams that provide the source content for the stations are migrated to server-side playlists that act as the sources of the broadcast publishing points. For example, if a publishing point in version 4.1 points to a station, two broadcast publishing points are created during the upgrade process: one that contains the station information and sources from a playlist, and a second one that sources from the first publishing point.

You may not need to know any more than these basic principles to update Windows Media Services. However, if your existing configuration is extensive, you should review this section, so you know the specifics of the migration process. The following list summarizes the primary principles of migrating from Windows Media Services version 4.1 to this version:
  • Unicast publishing points in Windows Media Services version 4.1 become on-demand publishing points in this version.
  • Stations in version 4.1 become broadcast publishing points.
  • Programs in version 4.1 become playlists and are copied to a new folder, %SystemDrive%\WMPub\WMPlaylists.
  • Streams in version 4.1 become playlist elements.
  • MSBD-based URLs in version 4.1 become HTTP-based URLs.
  • Multicast file transfers are no longer supported, so they are not migrated to this version of Windows Media Services.
  • The On-Line Presentation Broadcast service that provides integration with Microsoft PowerPoint is no longer supported, so it is not migrated.
  • Distribution authentication user IDs and passwords are not migrated.
  • Any security settings that have been configured on the source directories of the version 4.1 publishing points are migrated. The migrated security settings are modified to allow the NETWORK SERVICE account to have read permissions for the source directories of the migrated publishing points.
Windows Media Services creates a log that indicates how the version 4.1 configuration was migrated to the latest version. Wmsupgrade.log is located in %systemroot%\System32\Windows Media\Server. To view the log file, open the file in a basic text editor, such as Notepad.

Publishing Points that Point to Directories

In version 4.1, if the publishing point path points to a directory that contains Windows Media files, an on-demand publishing point is created in this version. The publishing point name is migrated, and the path is not changed, as described in the following table: 
  Version 4.1 Element                 Migrates To:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
  Publishing point name:              Publishing point name:
      PUBPOINT                            PUBPOINT

  Path:                               Path:
     %systemroot%\WindowsMediaFiles      %systemroot%\WindowsMediaFiles

Publishing Points that Point to Publishing Points

In version 4.1, if a publishing point uses another publishing point as its source, a broadcast publishing point is created during the migration process. If the publishing point uses a Microsoft Media Server (MMS) URL as its source, this is changed to HTTP during the migration process. The publishing point name is migrated but the publishing point path is changed to use the HTTP protocol in the URL as described in the following table: 
  Version 4.1 Element                 Migrates To:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
  Publishing point name:              Publishing point name:
      PUBPOINT                            PUBPOINT

  Path:                               Path:
      mms://remote_server/remote_pp       mms://remote_server/remote_pp

Publishing Points and Stations with the Same Name

In version 4.1, if a station and publishing point have the same name, two broadcast publishing points are created during the migration process. The first publishing point acquires the station properties and the original name followed by an incremented value, and the second publishing point points to the first publishing point and acquires the original name, as described in the following table: 
  Version 4.1 Element                 Migrates To:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
  Station name:                       Publishing point name 1:
      MyStation                           MyStation-1

  Publishing point name:              Publishing point name 2:
      MyStation                           MyStation
This migration procedure is followed whether or not the publishing point is actually associated with the station.

Stations and Programs that Are Not Associated

If a version 4.1 station exists but no program points to it, the station is migrated to this version. If a version 4.1 program points to a nonexistent station, a new playlist file is created with the name of the program, and the playlist file is saved to a new directory (%systemroot%\WMPub\WMPlaylists\Program_Name.wsx). A publishing point is not created.

The following table describes the migration of stations that are not associated with programs and programs that are not associated with stations: 
  Version 4.1 Element                 Migrates To:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
  Program name:                       Playlist:
     MyProg                              MyProg.wsx

Publishing Points that Point to Local Stations

The following table describes what occurs when publishing points and their associated local stations are migrated to this version of Windows Media Services from version 4.1: 
  Version 4.1 Element                 Migrates To:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Station Name:                       Publishing point name:
     MyStation                             MyStation
                                      
                                      Path:
                                      %SystemDrive%\WMPub\WMPlaylists\MyProg1.wsx

  Program Names:                      Playlists:
     MyProg1, MyProg2                      MyProg1.wsx, MyProg2.wsx
  
  MyProg1 streams:                    MyProg1.wsx MEDIA:
     Str11, Str12                          Str11, Str12

  MyProg2 streams:                    MyProg2.wsx MEDIA:
     Str21, Str22                          Str21, Str22

  Str11 source:                       Str11 src:
     msbd://encoder:1010                   http://encoder:1010

  Str21 source                        Str21 src:
     http://server/stationx                http://server/stationx

  Publishing point name:              Publishing point name:
     PubPoint                              PubPoint

  Path:                               Path:
     msbd://localhost/mystation            http://localhost/mystation
If the publishing point path uses the HTTP or MSBD protocol to point to an existing local station service and programs, the upgrade process results in the following:
  • A new playlist file is created with the name of the program, and the playlist file is saved to a new directory (%systemroot%\WMPub\WMPlaylists\Program_Name.wsx).
  • Each stream in the program becomes a media element in the playlist, and all properties that are associated with the stream become attributes of the media element.
  • References to MSBD in the source URL are replaced by HTTP.
  • If two programs exist for a single station:
    • A new playlist file is created for each program with the name of the program, and the playlist file is saved to a new directory (%systemroot%\WMPub\WMPlaylists\Program_Name.wsx).
    • A broadcast publishing point is created for the station and the path points to the playlist file that was created for the first program.
  • Two broadcast publishing points are created:
    • The version 4.1 station name becomes the name of the first broadcast publishing point, which points to the playlist path. The station properties are migrated to the publishing point.
    • The version 4.1 publishing point name becomes the name of the second broadcast publishing point, which points to the first publishing point.
The upgrade process only covers the migration of Windows Media Services. Any remote servers and encoders must be reconfigured manually to use the HTTP protocol.

If you use a port other than 80 to stream content from another server or an encoder, you must update the URLs in the playlist to reference the appropriate port number. For example, if you stream Welcome.asf over port 8008 on your 4.1 server and your original URL is msbd://server1/welcome.asf, the upgrade process results in the URL http://server1/welcome.asf. However, that does not work if the content is not available on the default HTTP port, so you must modify the reference to hhtp://server1:8008/welcome.asf.

Publishing Points that Point to Remote Sources

The following table describes the migration of a publishing point that points to a remote server station in version 4.1 to this version: 
  Version 4.1 Element                 Migrates To:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
  Publishing point name:              Publishing point name:
     PubPoint                            PubPoint

  Path:                               Path:
     msbd://remote_server/station        http://remote_server/station

  Publishing point name:              Publishing point name:
     PubPoint                            PubPoint

  Path:                               Path:
     msbd://remote_encoder:1000          http://remote_encoder:1000
The upgrade process includes only the migration of Windows Media Services. Any remote servers and encoders must be reconfigured manually to use the HTTP protocol.

If you use a port other than 80 to stream content from another server or an encoder, you must update the URLs in the playlist to reference the appropriate port number. For example, if you stream Welcome.asf over port 8008 on your 4.1 server and your original URL is msbd://server1/welcome.asf, the upgrade process results in the URL http://server1/welcome.asf. However, that does not work if the content is not available on the default HTTP port, so you must modify the reference to http://server1:8008/welcome.asf.

Publishing Point Security

Security on all publishing point source directories is migrated during the upgrade. The only access control list (ACL) security change that is made during migration is to add read access to the NETWORK SERVICE account. The following table provides an overview of how the settings are migrated.
  • Version 4.1 Settings:
    • No authentication or authorization enabled (default server configuration).
    Migrates To:
    • WMS Publishing Points ACL Authorization plug-in -- Enabled
    • WMS Anonymous User Authentication plug-in -- Enabled
    • WMS Negotiate Authentication plug-in -- Enabled
  • Version 4.1 Settings:
    • HTTP-BASIC and Membership Service Account Database authorization package -- Enabled
    Migrates To:
    • WMS Publishing Points ACL Authorization plug-in -- Enabled
    • WMS Negotiate Authentication plug-in -- Enabled
    • WMS Anonymous User Authentication plug-in -- Disabled
  • Version 4.1 Settings:
    • HTTP-BASIC Authentication and NTLM Account Database authorization package -- Enabled
    Migrates To:
    • WMS Publishing Points ACL Authorization plug-in -- Enabled
    • WMS Digest Authentication plug-in -- Enabled
    • WMS Anonymous User Authentication plug-in -- Disabled
  • Version 4.1 Settings:
    • Windows NTLM Authentication and Account Database authorization package -- Enabled
    Migrates To:
    • WMS Publishing Points ACL Authorization -- Enabled
    • WMS Negotiate Authentication plug-in -- Enabled
    • WMS Negotiate Authentication plug-in -- Enabled
    • WMS Anonymous User Authentication plug-in -- Disabled
In the Windows Media Services version 4.1 ACL, checking can be either enabled or disabled. The default installation of Windows Media Services enables the WMS Publishing Points ACL plug-in without regard to the ACL setting that is used with the previous version as a means of keeping your server secure until you have configured it.

Non-Migrated Configuration Elements

Certain elements of a version 4.1 configuration are not automatically migrated during an upgrade. The previous sections mentioned features, such as multicast file transfer, that are not migrated. In addition, migration does not remove content, such as files, folders, and certain registry settings, even though the content may be obsolete.

The following list describes elements that are not migrated and the manual configuration that might be necessary:
  • Security accounts and groups- The NetShow Administrators or Windows Media Administrators local groups and the NetShowServices local user accounts are not removed during the upgrade process. To ensure maximum security, decide whether the accounts are still applicable, and then make them unavailable or remove them if they are no longer in use.
  • ACLs- ACLs that are associated with publishing points are not migrated. However, the information is not removed from the system registry. If you want to reassign ACLs, you must enable the WMS Publishing Points ACL Authorization plug-in.

    Any ACL settings on the Logging and Station Archiving directories that are used in version 4.1 are preserved and Network Service is given write/modify access to these directories.
  • Authorization and authentication plug-ins- These plug-ins are not removed during migration. You can manually remove them after the upgrade is complete.
  • IP access lists- The list of IP addresses that you have configured to grant or deny access to your server are not migrated. You can re-create these lists by using the WMS IP Address Authorization Plug-in property sheet. If you want, you can remove the IP information manually from the registry by removing the following registry subkeys:

    \HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\NetShow\AccessLists

    \HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\NetShow\AccessLists\AllowDistribution

    \HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\NetShow\AccessLists\AllowUnicastClients

    \HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\NetShow\AccessLists\DisallowDistribution

    \HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\NetShow\AccessLists\DisallowUnicastClients

  • Programs- All programs are migrated to playlists regardless of whether they contained streams, except for programs that contain multicast file transfer streams. You can remove the empty playlists if you want to.
  • Configuration folders- The following folders and any files contained in them are not removed:

    %systemroot%\System32\Windows Media\Server\ASDB

    %systemroot%\System32\Windows Media\Server\ASDB\NSP

    %systemroot%\System32\Windows Media\Server\Station Data

    You can manually remove the folders if you want to.
  • Distribution Authentication- If you enable server authentication proxy settings in Windows Media Services version 4.1, the name of the proxy server that is used to validate authentication credentials is migrated during the upgrade. However, you must manually type the user name and password that are used with the proxy server in the property sheet of the WMS Network Data Source plug-in. You must specify the user name and password for each protocol that uses the proxy server to connect to a network data source.
  • On-Line Broadcast- This service, which provides integration with Microsoft PowerPoint, is not migrated. If you are running programs that require this service, you must continue to use Windows Media Services version 4.1 on a compatible operating system, such as Windows 2000 Server.
  • Windows Media File Transfer Services- This service is not migrated. If you are running programs that require this service, you must continue to use Windows Media Services version 4.1 on a compatible operating system, such as Windows 2000 Server.
  • Third party plug-ins- Third-party plug-ins that are used with Windows Media Services version 4.1 cannot be used with the new version of Windows Media Services. Several software developers have created new plug-ins for this version. Contact the plug-in developers to find out whether new plug-ins are available.
  • Incompatible Publishing Points- If a publishing point or station on your Windows Media Services version 4.1 server has a name that exceeds 260 characters it will not be migrated.


Using the Upgrade Log

Upon completion of an upgrade, Windows Media Services creates a log file, WMSUpgrade.log. You can use the log file to understand how your configuration was migrated during the upgrade process. The log describes in detail how every part of the previous configuration was migrated, including any errors that may have occurred. Wmsupgrade.log is located in %systemroot%\System32\Windows Media\Server. To view the log file, you can open the file in a basic text editor, such as Notepad

REFERENCES

The information contained in this article is also located in the Windows Media Services 9 Series help documentation. This documentation contains more detailed examples of the migration process.
Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:5/4/2005
Keywords:kbDSWWMM2003Swept kbinfo KB305366
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