Enabling External Cloud Storage

Beginning with version 21.3, Orchid Fusion VMS supports the exporting of Library files to an external cloud storage service. By performing some configuration work on the front end, your Orchid Fusion VMS will automatically send all Library files to the selected cloud service (instead of the local Orchid Fusion VMS server). You will be able to view and share exported video files using that cloud service.

The process is fairly straightforward. Orchid Fusion VMS utilizes an open-source library called Rclone to communicate with the external cloud storage service. Using Rclone, you may choose one of the many supported cloud storage options, such as Box.com, Dropbox, Google Drive, and Microsoft OneDrive. Once Rclone is set up, you’ll configure Orchid Fusion VMS to use Rclone as the gateway to your external cloud storage.

*If you are using Orchid Hybrid VMS, IPConfigure Support staff will need to configure the system to work with an external cloud storage service.

Prerequisites

In order to work with an external cloud storage system:

• You must have installed a version of Orchid Fusion VMS that includes a bundled Rclone executable. (This includes versions 21.3.0 and higher.)
• You must use this bundled version of Rclone to configure your cloud storage account (remote).
  

Set Up Your Preferred Cloud Storage Service in Rclone

Follow the steps below to configure Rclone to use your preferred cloud storage solution and create the remote.

1. Go to the Rclone website at https://rclone.org.
   1. Scroll down until you find the list of supported cloud storage providers.
   2. Click the Config button next to your preferred provider for instructions on how to create an Rclone remote. (These instructions will vary based on the provider that you select.) Make note of the specific command required to configure Rclone for the selected cloud storage provider.
2. To begin configuration and create a remote, go to the command line on your Orchid Fusion VMS server. (In Windows, make sure you run the Command Prompt as an Administrator.) In this next step, we’ll instruct the system to access the Rclone executable and Rclone configuration file that were bundled with Fusion, then we’ll specify the rclone command we want to run.
   1. (In Linux) Type the following command: sudo /opt/fusion/bin/rclone --config /etc/opt/fusion/rclone.conf (command) (where the command is the one you noted in step 1b). Then press Enter.
   2. (For Windows) Type the following command: C:\Program Files\IPConfigure\Orchid Fusion VMS\bin\rclone.exe --config "C:\Program Files\IPConfigure\Orchid Fusion VMS\conf\rclone.conf" (command) (where the command is the one you noted in step 1b). Then press Enter.
3. Follow the on-screen prompts to finish creating the remote. (You may use the instructions provided on the rclone site as a guide.)

After you run the configuration and create the Rclone remote, you can then modify the Orchid Fusion VMS config file.

Modifying the Configuration File

In order for Orchid Fusion VMS to work with the external cloud storage service, you will need to modify the Fusion configuration file.

*For extra help with the steps below, please refer back to the Installation section that corresponds to the operating system in which you are working.

1. Set the following property in the Orchid Fusion VMS configuration file:

• library.rclone.remote = your-rclone-remote-name
  • Replace your-rclone-remote-name with the name of your Rclone remote.

2. After modifications to the configuration file are complete, you’ll need to restart the Orchid Fusion VMS service.