Network Setup Guide

This article discusses Network Addressing requirements, which ensures that clients are uniquely identifiable across the network, as well as Firewall rules that enable traffic for defined services.

Network Addressing

A DHCP server helps assign a lease to new clients. When the DHCP server is unable to assign the lease, the following method describes how to assign a lease to each client.

uClient Configure network settings for a uClient device using included peripherals.

Network Capacity and Estimated Bandwidth Usage

Configuration

uClient

Firewall Rules

The following Internet destinations should be accessible by the Userful server for complete connectivity and support.

Protocol

Port

Destination

Rule

Description

The following local ports must be accessible from your LAN to allow browser-based access.

The following ports must be available between a Userful on-premise server and endpoints running uClient and between the uClient and the Internet.

The uClient devices must be able to communicate with the Internet to sync with the Userful Infinity Platform. Also, they must be able to communicate with each other across the local network to maintain content synchronization when used in a calibrated video wall.

For DNS Discovery options, please refer to your Sales Engineer during deployment to implement a successful connection to the Userful server.

On-Premise DNS Discovery for Userful

Userful’s on-premise discovery feature allows uClients (Userful client devices) to locate the IP address of the on-premise server in environments without an active internet connection. This method works across subnets without requiring multicast or broadcast traffic.

For proper configuration, the DNS in the deployment location must contain specific records. These records allow the uClient to discover the IP address of the on-premise server by querying the local DNS.

DNS Configuration Rules

To ensure uClients can discover the on-premise server, the following rules must be applied to the local DNS configuration:

1. Use the Existing Domain Suffix

The local network’s DNS should use the same domain suffix already used at the deployment location. Example: If the deployment location's domain is example.com, the existing domain suffix is example.com.

2. Create a DNS A Record or CNAME Record

A DNS A record or CNAME record must be created with the prefix userful-discovery followed by the deployment location’s domain suffix. This record should point to the IP address of the Userful on-premise server. Example: userful-discovery.example.com → [On-premise server IP address]

3. Handling Multiple Servers

If there are multiple on-premise servers, additional DNS records need to be created. Append a unique integer to each userful-discovery record to differentiate the servers. Example for multiple servers: userful-discovery1.example.com → [Server 1 IP address] userful-discovery2.example.com → [Server 2 IP address]

4. Reverse DNS (PTR) Record

A reverse DNS (PTR) record should also be configured to map the server’s IP address to the appropriate hostname. This reverse lookup ensures uClients can identify the server when querying based on the IP address.

uClient Discovery Process

The uClient discovers the on-premise server’s domain suffix and IP address through the following process:

1. DNS Search Domain via DHCP

The local DHCP service should be configured to provide a DNS search domain to the uClients. This enables uClients to automatically append the correct domain suffix when attempting to connect to userful-discovery. Example: If the DHCP server provides the search domain example.com, the uClient will attempt to connect to userful-discovery.example.com.

2. Fallback to Reverse (PTR) Lookup

If the uClient is unable to connect using the provided DNS search domain, it will perform a reverse (PTR) lookup. The uClient will check the following components in order:

The uClient itself
The default gateway
The DNS server

Based on the results of the reverse lookup, the uClient will determine the domain suffix. If the name resolves to something like host.subdomain.example.com, the uClient will use subdomain.example.com as the DNS suffix.

3. Domain Suffix Truncation

If the userful-discovery DNS record is not found, the uClient will attempt to truncate the domain suffix, removing portions of the name until only one dot (.) remains.

Example: subdomain.example.com → example.com

Multiple Regions or DNS Servers

If the deployment involves different DNS servers or regions, ensure that all DNS servers are configured to recognize the userful-discovery records and associated PTR records. This ensures uClients can connect to the correct server for the region.
If only one server is used to handle all requests, a single DNS record like userful-discovery.their.domain.net can be used across all regions.

Best Practices

Use consistent DNS naming conventions for easy management.
Ensure reverse DNS (PTR) records are configured to match the forward DNS entries.
Test the uClient discovery process by verifying DNS records and DHCP configuration in the network.

For DNS Discovery options, please get in touch with a sales engineer during deployment to implement a successful connection to the Userful server.

Updates

uClient and uClient WebOS

It requires access to both the on-premise server and the Internet to receive uClient application updates and device firmware updates. It does not need to access the corporate LAN. uClient can operate on a completely isolated network. However, provisions must be taken to manually distribute application and firmware updates to the devices when the server receives updates.

Android uClient or LG WebOS

It requires access to a local server and the Internet to receive application and firmware updates. LG WebOS firmware updates can be delivered from the Internet or installed on the device using a USB key.

Userful uClients can access cloud-connect.userful.com via TCP port 443 and traverse subnets while remaining connected to the same subnet as the local server. uClient devices come out of the box querying for DHCP on their local wired interfaces and can be manually configured with static IP addresses.

Currently, uClients require access to both the on-premise server and the Internet to receive uClient application updates and device firmware updates. This feature will be upgraded in the upcoming releases, where updates to uClient adapters will be made directly from the server.

Last updated 1 month ago