Overview

Converting from sc_trans to ices is largely just a matter of converting your old sc_trans configuration file into the format used by ices, and then changing a single setting in Centova Cast to inform it of the switch.


Client Impact

If executed correctly, the migration should be entirely seamless, and the only change your clients should notice is that ID3 tags are now correctly displayed in their media players.  (sc_trans does not support ID3 tags, whereas ices does). 

In Centova Cast v2.x, migrating to ices will also enable a number of new playlist scheduling options which were unavailable with sc_trans.

Aside from the above, your clients' streams will still work exactly as they did before -- there will be no change in audio quality; the user interface will remain identical; and any third-party scripts the user might be using (to retrieve song information from their stream, etc.) should be unaffected.


Server Impact

Migrating to ices from sc_trans will in many cases dramatically reduce the amount of memory required per stream (due to memory leaks in sc_trans), and in some cases will reduce the amount of CPU time used per stream.

ices also generally tends to be more stable than sc_trans -- whereas sc_trans often crashes when it encounters a bad MP3, ices will usually recover and skip to the next song.

In short, there is really no downside to migrating to ices0.


Installing ices v0.x

ices is an open-source product, and is typically distributed as source code only.  Installing ices manually from source can be a tricky task as it requires a number of dependencies in order to compile correctly.

To help reduce the complexity of installing ices, Centova Technologies offers a number of pre-built ices0 binary packages at the following URL:
http://www.centova.com/pages/icescc/

If you are unable to use the binary packages, we also provide an automated from-source installer at the above URL, which will download all of the necessary dependencies and install ices from source on your machine.

Once you've downloaded the appropriate ices package from the above URL, install it as described and verify that it is working by running:

/usr/local/ices/bin/ices -V

The output should resemble the following:

ices 0.4
Features: LAME libxml Vorbis
System configuration file: /usr/local/ices/etc/ices.conf

If you receive any error messages here, DO NOT proceed with the upgrade until you've resolved the problem.


Updating your Configuration Files

Centova Technologies has made a configuration file conversion utility available at the following URL:
http://www.centova.com/clientdist/sctrans_to_ices-1.0.1.tar.gz

After downloading the conversion utility, unpack it to your server, edit the sctrans_to_ices.sh script, and make the following changes:

1. Replace the ADMINPASS setting with your Centova Cast administrator password.
2. Replace the SYSTEMPATH setting with the path to your Centova Cast system directory (eg: /home/centovacast/system).  DO NOT add a trailing slash.
3. Replace the CASTUSER setting with the username under which Centova Cast runs.  If you are using phpsuexec/suphp, this will be your web hosting user account; if not, it will usually be "centovacast".

Next, save your changes and return to a shell prompt.

BACKUP YOUR CENTOVA CAST INSTALLATION NOW.

This includes your database, your Centova Cast system files (usually under /home/centovacast/system) and your Centova Cast user files (usually under /home/centovacast/vhosts).

Please note that this utility makes a best-effort attempt to convert all of your clients' sc_trans configuration files to ices format.  It also backs up every file it modifies before making any changes, to ensure that you should always have a good, original copy to fall back on.

It is NOT guaranteed to work however, and if something goes wrong, your clients' streams will be rendered unusable until you restore from backup.  If you are not entirely comfortable as a Linux systems administrator, you are STRONGLY advised to hire a qualified technician to perform this migration for you.  Centova Technologies will gladly perform this upgrade for you at a cost of one hour of billable administrative time.

Once you've made your backups, you are ready to begin the migration process. 

Note that this process WILL interrupt your clients' streams -- each stream will be shut down prior to conversion, then re-started after the conversion.  You may even wish to manually stop all of your clients' streams -- the conversion utility will attempt to do this for you, but a manual shutdown will ensure that the streams are cleanly stopped beforehand.

To begin the conversion, run the following command:
./sctrans_to_ices.sh

If any error messages are noted, you may wish to immediately restore from backup to avoid any potential problems.  If no errors are displayed, however, you can try tuning into one of your clients' streams to verify that it's working correctly.  A process list (i.e., "ps aux") should not show any sc_trans processes -- instead, it should show a number of /usr/local/ices/bin/ices processes sourcing your streams.


Files Modified by Conversion

The conversion script will modify the following files:

/home/centovacast/vhosts/*/etc/source.conf
/home/centovacast/system/config.php

Note that the "/home/centovacast/" portion of the path may vary depending on where you installed Centova Cast.  The sc_trans configuration files will be backed up as "source.conf.sctrans", and the config.php file will be backed up as "config.php.sctrans_to_ices".


Support

Please note that the sc_trans-to-ices conversion script is provided as a courtesy to customers of Centova Technologies, to reduce the amount of work involved in migrating to ices.  THIS IS NOT AN OFFICIALLY-SUPPORTED PRODUCT.

If you encounter difficulties in using this script, we strongly advise hiring a qualified technician to perform the conversion for you.  As noted above, Centova Technologies will gladly perform this upgrade for you at a cost of one hour of billable administrative time.  This includes a guarantee of a correct conversion or a full refund of your hour of administrative time.