Recording and playback

How recording works

Each camera is recorded by its Site Node, to a recording location on that server: a local fixed drive or a folder on one. Kalytera VMS stores the camera's stream as it arrives, in the Recording quality chosen when the camera was added, without re-encoding it.

• Encryption: recordings are encrypted at rest with AES-256-GCM by default. The keys are protected by the Site Node's operating system key store.
• Integrity: every recording object carries a SHA-256 integrity root. Video is authenticated whenever it is played or exported, and altered video is reported as failing integrity verification.

Set up recording for a camera

1. Go to Configure > Recording & storage and choose Recording, or open the camera's Recording tab in Devices.
2. Select the camera, then Set up recording. Recording starts disabled, so nothing is written until you choose a mode.
3. Choose the Recording volume and the Recording mode, then select Save policy.

Recording mode	Records
Disabled	Nothing. The saved settings are kept for later.
Always	Continuously.
Schedule	During the windows of one named schedule.
Events	Around events, when a rule's Start recording action asks for video.
Custom	Any combination of Always coverage, Schedule windows, and Event recording.

For event recording, set a Pre-roll and a Post-roll. A Site Node keeps up to 30 seconds of pre-roll by default, and the timeline shows when requested pre-roll was not available. When several modes ask for video at the same time, Kalytera VMS merges them into one recording.

Turn on Allow manual start/stop to let authorized users start and stop recording from Manual coverage. Manual recording does not change the automatic mode.

Schedules

Schedules are reusable weekly time windows. Under Reusable schedules, select New schedule, enter a Name, and start from a Preset: Always, Business hours (Monday to Friday, 09:00 to 17:00), Nights (every day, 18:00 to 08:00), Weekends, or Custom. Adjust the days and times of each window, which may cross midnight, and set the Time zone under Advanced timing. Apply to cameras switches several cameras to a schedule at once.

Retention and storage

Retention is set once for the whole installation, in days, on the Schedules & retention tab under Global retention in days (1 to 3,650 days, 30 by default). Each Site Node deletes recordings older than that. Every recording location also keeps 2 GiB free, shown as Kept free: when free space runs low, the oldest eligible recordings go first, even before they reach the retention age. Protected ranges are never deleted.

The Storage tab lists every recording location with its used, free, and total space and its status: Ready, Full, Degraded, Not writable, Report out of date, or Not reporting. Details shows the path, quota, capacity, free space, and the space kept free.

Each Site Node records to the location chosen after installation; see Install Kalytera VMS. To add another one, go to Configure > System > Recording storage and select Add a recording location. Existing recordings stay where they are, and the Site Node restarts briefly. Kalytera VMS then offers Move cameras to record them to the new location; later, use Move cameras here on the Storage tab, or the Storage location on a camera's Recording tab. Network shares cannot be used.

If a Site Node loses its recording location, for example because the drive is gone or its permissions changed, Kalytera VMS raises the Recording storage unavailable alarm, with the next step to reconnect or repair the drive or folder, and stops recording to that location. Recording never moves to another location or drive by itself. A location running out of space raises Recording storage nearly full and then Recording storage full.

Play back video

Go to Operate > Video and choose Playback. Set Jump to local date and time and an Investigation window from 1 hour to 31 days, then select Load time. You can also open Playback from an alarm or from a camera on a map.

• Several cameras in sync: in Recording sources, select Compare for up to 8 cameras. One camera leads and the others follow it; Make lead changes the lead camera.
• Speed: 0.25×, 0.5×, 1×, 2×, 4×, or 8×.
• Navigation: jump 5 or 10 seconds, to the previous or next recording, or to the previous or next event.
• Keyboard: Space or K plays and pauses, ← and → jump 5 seconds, J and L jump 10 seconds, and F switches to full screen.

Read the timeline

The Investigation timeline has a row for each camera. Its legend shows Recorded, Gap, Event coverage, and Uncertain. Gaps are shown as gaps, with their cause when it is known, such as a full disk, a camera reconnecting, or a server restart. Hover over the timeline to preview frames, and zoom with Zoom in and Zoom out, Ctrl and the mouse wheel, or the + and - keys.

Bookmarks

In the side panel, Bookmarks marks a moment or the selected range with a Title and a Note. Keep a bookmark Private or make it Installation shared; other users see shared bookmarks read-only.

Protect evidence

To keep video beyond retention, select a range on the timeline and select Protect for it. Protected ranges are skipped by retention and by storage cleanup until they are released. Protecting video needs the retention hold permission.

Export video

1. In Playback, select a range on the timeline with Select range, or with Mark range start and Mark range end.
2. Select Export … MP4; the button carries the camera's name. With several cameras visible, Apply selection to exports the selected camera or all visible cameras, each as a separate file.
3. Follow progress under Media exports. When an export is ready, select Download MP4 and Provenance manifest.

The export is a standard MP4 file copied from the recording without re-encoding. Its manifest is a JSON file with the SHA-256 hash of the MP4, the recording objects it came from with their SHA-256 integrity roots, and any gaps in the range. To show that a copy is unchanged, compute its SHA-256 and compare it with the hash in the manifest. Exporting needs the export permission.

Hikvision recorder archives

For channels of a Hikvision NVR or DVR added with Hikvision HTTP, Remote in the camera list opens the Remote recorder archive. It shows what the recorder holds, plays a selected time, and retrieves clips of up to 10 minutes as MP4. The Site Node aligns the recorder's clock to UTC before playback.