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TheRelay Agent Installation Guide

TheRelay Agent Installation

The TheRelay Agent is a lightweight service that runs on your network to publish RTSP camera feeds to the TheRelay cloud. Once installed and configured, your cameras are accessible from anywhere via secure cloud endpoints.

System Requirements

  • Windows 10+ or Linux (Ubuntu 18.04+, Debian, CentOS)
  • .NET 8.0 Runtime (Windows) or .NET Core (Linux)
  • 2GB RAM minimum
  • Stable outbound internet connection
  • Network access to RTSP cameras on your LAN

Key Capabilities

  • Publish multiple RTSP streams simultaneously
  • Automatic connection management and failover
  • Camera credential storage (credentials stay on-prem)
  • Real-time health checks and reconnection
  • Support for ONVIF camera discovery

Windows Installation

Follow these steps to install the TheRelay Agent on Windows 10 or later.

Installation Steps

  1. Download the installer from your TheRelay dashboard (Setup > Download Agent)
  2. Run the installer with administrator privileges
  3. Accept the license agreement and choose installation location
  4. Configure the agent endpoint - Enter your unique agent ID from the dashboard
  5. Complete installation - The agent will start automatically as a Windows service

Verification

After installation, verify the agent is running:

  • Open Services (services.msc) and look for "TheRelay Agent"
  • Check the dashboard - your agent should appear in the Agents list
  • Green status indicator confirms successful connection

Linux Installation

Install the TheRelay Agent on Linux using the provided installation script.

Installation Steps

  1. Download the installer script from your TheRelay dashboard
  2. Make the script executable: chmod +x therelay-agent-install.sh
  3. Run with sudo: sudo ./therelay-agent-install.sh
  4. Provide your agent ID when prompted during installation
  5. Verify installation: systemctl status therelay-agent

Manual Configuration

If you need to reconfigure the agent manually:

  • Configuration file: /etc/therelay/agent-config.json
  • Restart service: sudo systemctl restart therelay-agent
  • View logs: sudo journalctl -u therelay-agent -f

Configuration

Configure the agent through the TheRelay Dashboard for most use cases. Advanced users can modify configuration files directly.

Dashboard Configuration

  1. Log in to your TheRelay Dashboard
  2. Navigate to Agents section
  3. Click your agent to open configuration
  4. Add cameras by entering RTSP URLs and credentials
  5. Configure tokens and access control as needed

Agent Settings

  • Agent ID: Unique identifier for your agent (set during installation)
  • Cloud Endpoint: TheRelay cloud server URL (automatically configured)
  • Encryption: All communications use AES-256 encryption
  • Health Check Interval: Agent reports status every 30 seconds

Troubleshooting

Agent Not Connected

  • Verify internet connection from the agent host
  • Check firewall rules - agent needs outbound HTTPS (443) access
  • Confirm agent ID is correct in configuration
  • Review agent logs for error messages

Camera Connection Issues

  • Test RTSP URL directly from the agent host using VLC or ffplay
  • Verify camera credentials are correct
  • Confirm agent can reach camera IP address
  • Check firewall rules between agent and camera network

Performance Issues

  • Monitor agent CPU and memory usage
  • Reduce number of simultaneous streams if experiencing high load
  • Check network bandwidth availability
  • Enable hardware acceleration if available