Event ID 331 — Broadcast Archiving

Applies To: Windows Server 2008

When you use a broadcast publishing point to stream content, you can configure Archiving plug-ins in Windows Media Services to archive the content to a file as it streams. Archiving is useful when you are streaming content that is not already recorded—for example, a stream from an encoder. The archive file enables you to make the content available for on-demand requests or rebroadcast. You can either wait until the broadcast is over to make the archived content available or you can use the Play While Archiving feature in Windows Media Services to allow clients to stream the archived content, even as the server continues to archive streaming content to the file. For more information, see Archiving content.

Event Details

Diagnose

This error is caused by one of the following conditions:

• The number of archived files in the archive directory has reached the limit of 20,000 files.
• The Network Service account does not have appropriate permissions for the archive directory.

The number of archived files in the archive directory has reached the limit of 20,000 files

To determine the number of files in the archive directory:

1. On the Windows Media server, open Windows Media Services. To open Windows Media Services, click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Windows Media Services.
2. In the console tree, click the broadcast publishing point for which you are archiving data.
3. In the details pane, click the Properties tab.
4. In Category, click Archiving.
5. In Plug-in, right-click WMS Archive Data Writer, and then click Properties.
6. In the WMS Archive Data Writer Properties dialog box, on the General tab, note the archive directory path in Directory.
7. In Windows Explorer, right-click the archive folder, and then click Properties.
8. On the General tab, in Contains, view the number of files stored in the folder.
9. If the folder contains 20,000 files, see the section titled "Make file space available for archive file storage."

The Network Service account does not have appropriate permissions for the archive directory

To determine the Network Service account permissions for the archive directory:

1. On the Windows Media server, open Windows Media Services. To open Windows Media Services, click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Windows Media Services.
2. In the console tree, click the broadcast publishing point for which you want to archive data.
3. In the details pane, click the Properties tab.
4. In Category, click Archiving.
5. In Plug-in, right-click WMS Archive Data Writer, and then click Properties.
6. In the WMS Archive Data Writer Properties dialog box, on the General tab, note the archive directory path in Directory.
7. In Windows Explorer, right-click the archive folder, and then click Properties.
8. On the Security tab, in the Group or user names area, click NETWORK SERVICE.
9. In the Permissions for NETWORK SERVICE area, view the permissions allowed for the Network Service account.
10. If the Network Service account does not have Read, Write, and Modify permissions to the archive directory, see the section titled "Specify Network Service account permissions for archiving."

Resolve

To resolve this issue, use the resolution that corresponds to the cause you identified in the Diagnose section. After performing the resolution, see the Verify section to confirm that the feature is operating properly

Make file space available for archive file storage

Make additional file space available in the archive directory or change the archive path template to reference an archive directory that has sufficient file space.

Make space available in the current archive directory

To perform this procedure, you must have membership in the local Administrators group, or you must have been delegated the appropriate authority.

To make space available in the current archive directory:

1. On the Windows Media server, open Windows Media Services. To open Windows Media Services, click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Windows Media Services.
2. In the console tree, click the broadcast publishing point for which you are archiving data.
3. In the details pane, click the Properties tab.
4. In Category, click Archiving.
5. In Plug-in, right-click WMS Archive Data Writer, and then click Properties.
6. In the WMS Archive Data Writer Properties dialog box, on the General tab, note the archive directory path in Directory.
7. In Windows Explorer, remove files from the archive folder to make additional file space available, or perform the following procedure to specify a new archive directory that has sufficient file space.

Change the archive directory

To change the archive directory:

1. On the Windows Media server, open Windows Media Services. To open Windows Media Services, click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Windows Media Services.
2. In the console tree, click the broadcast publishing point for which you are archiving data.
3. In the details pane, click the Properties tab.
4. In Category, click Archiving.
5. In Plug-in, right-click WMS Archive Data Writer, and then click Properties.
6. In the WMS Archive Data Writer Properties dialog box, on the General tab, in Directory, click Browse to select a new directory for archive file storage.

Specify Network Service account permissions for archiving

Windows Media Services uses the Network Service account to archive files in %systemdrive%\WMPub\WMArchive and its subdirectories. By default, the Network Service account has Read, Write, and Modify permissions to the WMArchive directory and its subdirectories.

If the specified archive folder does not reside in %systemdrive%\WMPub\WMArchive or in one of its subdirectories, you must specify permissions on the alternate archive folder for the Network Service account.

To perform this procedure, you must have membership in the local Administrators group, or you must have been delegated the appropriate authority.

To specify Network Service account permissions for archiving:

1. On the Windows Media server, open Windows Media Services. To open Windows Media Services, click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Windows Media Services.
2. In the console tree, click the broadcast publishing point for which you want to archive data.
3. In the details pane, click the Properties tab.
4. In Category, click Archiving.
5. In Plug-in, right-click WMS Archive Data Writer, and then click Properties.
6. In the WMS Archive Data Writer Properties dialog box, on the General tab, note the archive directory path in Directory.
7. In Windows Explorer, right-click the archive folder, and then click Properties.
8. On the Security tab, click Edit.
9. In the Permissions for <Object name> dialog box, click Add.
10. In the Select Users, Computers, or Groups dialog box, in Enter the object names to select, type Network Service, and then click OK.
11. In the Permissions for <Object name> dialog box, in the Group or user names area, click NETWORK SERVICE.
12. In the Permissions for NETWORK SERVICE area, click the Allow check box for the following permissions: Read, Write, Modify.
13. Click OK to save the changes.

Verify

To verify that the output from your live broadcast is being archived correctly to a file in the archive directory, set up a Play While Archiving configuration in Windows Media Services to allow a test client to read from the archive file as the Windows Media server writes to it. For more information, see About Play While Archiving. After you have configured Play While Archiving in Windows Media Services, you can view the archive file in Windows Media Player to confirm the quality of the archived broadcast.

To view the archive file in Windows Media Player:

1. If you want to view the file by using Windows Media Player on the computer that is running Windows Media Services, you must install Desktop Experience. For more information, see Installing Desktop Experience.
2. On the Windows Media server, open Windows Media Services. To open Windows Media Services, click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Windows Media Services.
3. In the console tree, click the publishing point that sources from the archive file.
4. In the details pane, click the Announce tab, and then, in Connect to a unicast stream, note the value of the URL that a client can use to access the content.
5. Start Windows Media Player on a computer that can access the stream, and enter the URL that you noted in the previous step. You should be able to view the archived broadcast from the beginning of the event; however, you will not be able to fast forward or rewind the content until archiving stops.

Related Management Information

Broadcast Archiving

Streaming Media Services