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Network Camera Test (NVR Readiness)

Overview​

The Network Camera Test tool is a built-in diagnostic dialog that performs an end-to-end readiness check for a selected virtual IP camera.

It validates the most common reasons an NVR/VMS cannot connect reliably:

  • Service binding issues (ONVIF / RTSP / RTSPS)
  • Wrong bind IP address
  • Missing or invalid credentials
  • Missing main/sub stream profiles
  • Port conflicts
  • Real playback probe using FFplay

The result is shown as:

  • PASS (ready)
  • WARN (ready with warnings)
  • FAIL (not ready)

Best practice:

  • Run this test right after adding a new camera in ITVDesk, and after any changes to IP/ports/credentials/stream profiles.
tip

If you run only one tool during commissioning, make it Network Camera Test. It catches the most common integration issues early.

Where To Find It​

  1. Open the Front Application
  2. In the Camera List, right-click a camera
  3. Click Test Selected Camera...
Test Selected Camera (context menu)

The dialog starts automatically and you can also run it again using Retest.

Network Camera Test dialog

What The Test Does (8 Steps)​

The tool runs these checks:

  1. ONVIF Runtime Verifies ONVIF HTTP/HTTPS runtime status, bind state, and TCP reachability.

  2. RTSP Runtime Verifies RTSP runtime, bind state on the camera IP, and TCP reachability. If RTSPS is enabled, it also checks RTSPS bind and reachability.

  3. Primary IP Confirms the camera bind IP is a valid local interface. Warns if it is valid but not the primary host IP.

  4. ONVIF/Auth Validates that credentials exist and performs an RTSP handshake (OPTIONS), including digest authentication when required. Warns if ONVIF discovery is disabled or firmware version is missing.

  5. Main/Sub Stream Checks that the camera exposes at least 2 video profiles and at least 2 unique stream URIs (main + sub).

  6. Port Conflict Detects conflicts between ONVIF HTTP/HTTPS, RTSP, RTSPS and RTSP-over-HTTP/HTTPS. Also warns about invalid/odd/conflicting UDP media base port.

  7. FFplay Probe Runs a real playback probe against the RTSP stream:

    • Visual mode (shows FFplay window)
    • Headless mode (-nodisp + timeout)

  8. NVR Verdict Produces the final verdict based on the previous steps.

Report (Copy / Export)​

The dialog can generate a full report:

  • Copy Report copies the report to clipboard
  • Export Report saves it to a .txt file

The report includes:

  • Camera name, IP, ports
  • Overall verdict
  • PASS/WARN/FAIL per step
  • Detailed step messages + full diagnostics log

Common Fixes​

If the test shows FAIL or WARN, typical fixes are:

  • Primary IP warning/fail: bind the camera to the primary host IP or a valid local interface (avoid link-local and loopback).
  • Auth fail: ensure at least one ONVIF user/password is configured.
  • Main/Sub fail: enable/configure both main and sub stream profiles.
  • Port conflict: change ONVIF / RTSP / RTSPS / HTTP(S) ports so they do not overlap.
  • FFplay fail: verify RTSP URL and credentials; confirm RTSP is reachable from the same machine.
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