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Requirements

New to this?

Start with the Quick guide: Before you start.

What a site needs before you load Centro System Manager for Crestron: a processor to run it on, the Crestron systems that control the locations, a browser and a network that lets them reach each other.

The processor it runs on​

ProcessorUse it for Centro System Manager for Crestron?
CP4Yes. It has ten program slots, so the program can share the processor with other programs. Up to 150 locations are recommended on one processor.
RMC4Not recommended. It has a single program slot and less memory, so the program can't share it with a location's own program.

The program takes one program slot. Only one copy runs on a processor.

The processor must have authentication turned on, with at least one administrator account, because people sign in with the processor's own accounts.

To confirm

Which other 4-Series processors (for example CP4N, MC4, PRO4, AV4) are supported for running Centro System Manager for Crestron? Only the CP4 and RMC4 have been tested.

Firmware​

It has been tested on CP4 firmware 2.8006.00110.

To confirm

What is the minimum processor firmware for Centro System Manager for Crestron? No minimum is recorded.

The Crestron systems that control the locations​

Centro System Manager for Crestron doesn't replace the systems that run the locations. Each location needs one of these:

  • A Crestron Home system. The Centro driver runs on the Crestron Home processor. It recognises these models as Crestron Home processors: DIN-AP4-R, CP4-R, MC4-R and PC4-R. The automatic driver install needs Crestron Home 4.011.0322 or later, and refuses an older version. It has been tested with Crestron Home 4.011.0322 and 4.012.0194, and with the Centro driver 0.14.0, the version this program ships. See Connect Crestron Home.
  • Crestron Custom with the Centro module, on a 4-Series processor. See Connect Crestron Custom.

Browser​

Use a current browser on a computer, tablet or phone on the site's network. It has been tested in Chrome and Safari.

To confirm

Which browsers and versions are supported for the admin app?

The first time each device opens Centro System Manager for Crestron, its browser warns about the certificate. That's expected: the processor makes its own certificate. First sign-in explains how to trust it.

Users need nothing but their phone's own browser and camera.

Network​

  • Give the processor a fixed IP address. Use a static address or a DHCP reservation. Connections, touch screens and User App QR codes all hold the processor's address, and a printed QR code stops working if the address changes.
  • Put staff devices where they can reach the processor. Staff open Centro System Manager for Crestron on port 8443 by default.
  • Put the Crestron systems where they can reach the processor, and the processor where it can reach them. Discovery finds local processors and touch screens on the processor's own network. A device it can't find, for example on another subnet, is added by its IP address under Settings → Deployment → Manual devices.
  • For User App access, users' phones must reach the processor. A user's phone must be on a network that can reach the processor on the User App port, 8180 by default. That port serves the User App and nothing else, so you can open it to the network users join without exposing the admin app.
  • For API keys, the calling system must reach the processor on the admin port, 8443 by default. Keys are taken over HTTPS on that port only.
  • No internet connection is needed to run the site. These use one when it's there:
    • Sending logs to Centro. A copy of the processor's log goes to Centro's log server over HTTPS, so support can see a problem. It's on by default. On a site that allows no outbound traffic, turn off Send this processor's logs to Centro under Settings → Settings → Logs. See Logs.
    • Activating a licence online, and the daily check of keys activated that way. A licence file needs no connection.
    • Email through a mail relay outside the site.

Ports and network lists every port and who connects to it.

Time​

Schedules, logs and the trial all go by the processor's clock, so it must be right.

  • Set the processor's time zone to the site's.
  • Turn on the processor's time server (SNTP) and give it a server the processor can reach. On a site with no internet connection, use a time server on the local network.

The time zone and time server are the processor's own settings, shared by every program on it. You change them in the processor's settings, not in Centro System Manager for Crestron.

Centro System Manager for Crestron shows the clock in the setup wizard and under Settings → Deployment → Setup, and warns if the time server is off, if no server is set or if the clock is too far in the past to be right. Fix a wrong clock before you go further: until it's corrected, the trial and the processor's certificates may be dated wrongly.

The processor restarts itself at 2 AM now and then​

A 4-Series processor restarts itself at 2 AM when its own certificate is due for renewal. This is the processor's behaviour, not the program's. Centro System Manager for Crestron starts again by itself and carries on, and there's nothing for you to do. Anyone signed in at the time has to sign in again.