Use box.com as content server

Note that Box is planning to disable WebDAV support - scheduled initially for Jan 31, 2019, but extended until October 25, 2019.

Introduction

The HMP is able to automatically retrieve content from a web server, which is useful for large setups involving a centralized content server or whenever is not possible to push content directly on the player (for instance, due to firewall / NAT usage).

To facilitate the content deployment for such setups, Elementi M and Elementi X offer the possibility to publish the content directly on a server through the Publish Location feature. This feature is not available for Elementi S.

The tutorial below explains how to publish content from Elementi (M or X) on box.com server and then how to configure the HMP devices to retrieve and display that content.

Tutorial

• Difficulty: Easy.
• Total duration: 10-15 minutes.
• Requirements:
  • Elementi M or Elementi X, version 3.0.0 or later. (The latest version is recommended.)
  • One or more HMP devices using firmware 3.0.0 or later. (The latest version is recommended.)
  • A project to be used as content.

Publish content on server

1. Create an account on box.com, if you don't have one already.
2. Open Elementi and prepare the content to be published on the server.
   • For instance, you can use one of the sample projects included within Elementi or create a new project (My first Elementi project might also come in handy).
3. Open Elementi Devices view and create a new Publish Location with the following details:
   • Protocol: Secure HTTP
   • Hostname: dav.box.com
   • Path: /dav/ProjectName/
   • Security: enter the username and password for your box.com account
4. Publish the content onto the newly created Publish Location.

Display the project on HMP350 or HMP300

HMP350 and HMP300 devices can retrieve the content from a web server using the Scheduled Download feature and then display it on the screen.

• Scheduled Download is strongly recommended because it is resilient to network and bandwidth problems, which are inevitable when using a public server.

Add credentials

First you need to add the credentials for box.com server on the HMP, otherwise it won't be able to connect to the server and retrieve the content. For that, follow these steps:

1. Open HMP Control Center > System > Saved Passwords.
2. Add https://dav.box.com/ as Server URI and the username and password of your box.com account.

Scheduled Download

To add a Scheduled Download onto the HMP, follow these steps:

1. Open HMP Control Center > Content > Scheduled Download.
2. Under "Server URI", enter https://dav.box.com/dav/MyProject/.
3. Select the type of update to be performed (Manual, Hourly, Daily)
   • In case of Daily update, select the time at which you would like the publish action to take place.
   • In case of Manual update, you need to press the reload icon to trig the update of the content manually.
4. Click on "Apply" button. Once the download is completed, the HMP will display the content retrieved from the server.

Display the project on HMP200 or HMP130

HMP200, HMP130, and HMP100 devices can retrieve the content from a web server using the Scheduled Download feature and then display it on the screen.

• Scheduled Download is strongly recommended because it is resilient to network and bandwidth problems, which are inevitable when using a public server.

Adding credentials

First you need to add the credentials for box.com server on the HMP, otherwise it won't be able to connect to the server and retrieve the content. For that, follow these steps:

1. Open HMP Control Center > Network Settings page > Credentials tab.
2. Add https://dav.box.com/ as Server URI and the username and password of your box.com account.

Pull Mode configuration

To configure the HMP for Pull Mode, follow these steps:

1. Open HMP Control Center > Content Settings page > Pull Mode tab.
2. Select "Manual settings" option and enable "Automatically upload project to the HMP[...]" option.
3. Under "Project source", enter https://dav.box.com/dav/MyProject/ .
4. Select the time when the HMP should start pulling the content (you check the status within uploader.log).
5. Click on "Apply" button. Once the pull action is completed, the HMP will display the content retrieved from the server.

See also

• Use myDrive as content server
• Publish content on a web server via FTP
• Use Synology NAS as content server
• Use QNAP NAS as content server