Information

• Manufacturer: Amag
• Contact: +44 (0) 1684 850977
• Product: Amag Symmetry
• Type: Access Control 

Overview

Amag Symmetry is an access control integration. The Integration is an advanced system-to-system integration and is an access control platform, connected to multiple remote-devices such as door controls, card readers, trigger-able relays and more. Using this system with SureView allows all Amag alarms to be dealt with within the SureView interface, along with the ability to trigger outputs (relays) attached to Amag control panels.

 

Supported Features (Requires Symmetry XML Open Integration Module)

• GetConfig
• Site Syncing
• Relays and Door Control Alarms

 

Network Requirements

The following ports are required for this integration

From	To	Port	Use
SureView server	Amag server	12002 TCP	Send Auxiliary Output and GetConfig commands
Amag server	SureView server	12002 TCP	Receive GetConfig data
SureView server	Amag server	12003 TCP	Send Alarm acknowledgement
Amag server	SureView server	12003 TCP	Receive Alarm data
Amag server (Symmetry)	Amag server (Symmetry)	65101 TCP	Local connection between Router and Amag Symmetry software

Note: These are default ports only (they can be configured and therefore may be different to what's listed below)

 

Server Setup

The Amag servers can be setup in two configurations. The first has both the Symmetry software and database on the same server, the second consists of two servers, a "Comms" server (running the symmetry software) and a database server, containing the Amag Databse. In both cases, the Amag router service (created by SureView) must be installed on the same server as the Symmetry software:

Server Configuration 1

Server Configuration 2

 

Amag Symmetry Access Control Server Configuration

The following are the steps required to configure this system to work with the SureView.

Before you begin

For your Amag system to work with SureView make sure you have the following:

• A valid Amag Account for the Symmetry Software.
• A valid Amag Account to connect to the Amag Database.
• XML Open Integration Module installed and licensed in the Amag Symmetry software (Provided by Amag).
• Amag Server configuration reflects one of those mentioned under Server Setup Options.
• .Net 4.5.1 or higher must be installed on the Amag Symmetry server.
• Amag Router (provided by SureView) is installed on the Amag Server (same server as the symmetry software).

Connecting to the Amag database - AmagRouter config file on Amag Server

For connecting to the Amag database there are two methods. You can connect using either SQL authorisation or using Windows Auth. To enable SQL authorisation, simply add data for the Database user and password fields (DBuser and DBpass in example). If no data is found in these fields then windows auth is used instead. To connect to external amag databases (anything other than the default of localhost), the IP address of the database should be added into the SQLipAddress field of the config file.The Amag will then attempt to connect to the database at that location.

Note that ports 12002 and 12003 (by default) will need to be open on both machines for communication.

 

First Run of AmagRouter

When the router first runs, the InstallIdentifier field in the config file will be blank. The router will then populate this with the most recent TxnID from the Amag database transaction table. The Amag will then process every alarm that comes into the system after that alarm, essentially the Amag is unaware of any alarms before the selected one.

 

Amag Symmetry Version

If using the SureView Amag integration against Symmetry version 8, the config of the Router will have to be updated. Please change the value "SymmetryVersion8" to True (Defaults to false for version 7):

 

Root Node

To ensure that every alarm is received correctly in SureView, add a 'root node' device by adding a device into SureView with a blank Chain Name (Extra Value). That way, any alarms which are received which cannot be matched to an existing Chain Name will match the 'root node'.

 

Getting ChainID

When setting up the amag in the SureView Systems webpage, the user will be prompted for a Chain name to group on. Leaving the chain name blank will return all devices at that IP address through GetConfig.

To find the wanted chain name. Go into the Symmetry software. Click on Install ->Chains-> Lan. 

This will open the chain selection page where you can find the chain names:

For more information on the chains, simply select one and click open

 

Installation

This integration can be installed using the SureView package installer. Install the latest version of the "Amag Symmetry" module.

 

Integration Configuration in SureView Server

The following are the steps required to configure this integration the SureView interface.

Before You Begin

• Open ports on your SureView server - see Network Requirements
• A valid Amag Account for the Symmetry Software.
• A valid Amag Account to connect to the Amag Database.
• Amag Server configuration reflects one of those mentioned under Server Setup Options.
• Alarm port in the Amag Router and Amag Receiver must match exactly.
• .Net 4.5.1 or higher must be installed on theSureView server.
• Consider adding a root node into SureView for Alarm Matching.
• Ensure the router is set to the correct Amag Symmetry Version.

Device Setup

Field	Value
Host	IP address of the Amag server where the Router service is installed.
Port	The device port used to connect to the Amag server (default 12002).
Username	The username used to login to Symmetry software
Password	The password used to login to Symmetry software
Chain Name	The Chain Name which is acquired from the Symmetry software (See Below)

 

Relay Controls

When sending relay commands to the Amag device, the command being sent is specified by the type (in Amag) of device that is being called. Please see the table below for a list of commands:

Amag Device Type	SureView Relay Command
	ON	OFF	PULSE
Reader	Call "Unlock Door"	Call "Lock Door"	Call "Grant Access"
Auxiliary Output (Output Relay)	Call "Output On"	Call "Output Off"	Call "Output Pulse"

 

Alarm Information

Input1	The identifier for matching alarm inputs and devices. Combination of Input and the Device Type.
Input2	The Device Type of the alarmed device from the table below
Event Type	The event that was triggered.
Date Time On Server	The time that the event was triggered (as specified by the Amag software)
Extra Text	This field will be populated with any and all additional data that Amag has provided, including user name, location, card number and more.

 

Device Types (Input2 value)

• Monitor Point Device = 77
• Auxiliary Output Device = 79
• Reader Device = 82
• Floor Group Device = 102
• Intrusion Area = 118
• Door Device = 66
• Floor Device = 105
• Node Device = 78
• Reader Group Device = 114
• System Device = 72
• DCU Device = 68
• Intrusion Zone = 120
• Amag Unknown Device = 0 (In Amag Software as -1)
• PassBack Alerts = 80

Setting up Site Syncing

It is possible to setup Site Syncing for Amag devices. For the basics of setting up Site Sync please see this link.

When setting up a Site Sync for Amag, select 'Add Sync System' under the Sync Systems tab. Select your Area and Server Type. 

Save and close Sync System and navigate to Sync Entries tab to add a new Sync Entry.

 

AmagReceiver (Receiver config file on SureView Server)

For the services to run correctly, the Amag Receiver needs to have the CallbackService.dll in its folder.

The Receiver sends notification alarms upon connection lost to the Router. In addition to this, a list of email recipients can be added to also receive alarms/alerts on certain events (such as connection loss). The list of email recipients can be created/edited in the .config file of the AmagReceiver.

 

Setting up root site in SureView

A root device, is a device that will accept all inputs from any alarms, it can also be used for relays to any chain name, it is essentially a catch all. To establish a root site, simply leave 'Chain Name' in SureView setup to blank. If you would like to use get config to populate the device, then go to Amagrouter config file and set "RootGetConfig" value="True".

Note: Getconfig will populate every device/alarm it can find in the amag, this can be highly time consuming.

 

Setting up unknown input alarms

When alarms are triggered that are not known by the system, they are sent through with an input of 0. If the user wishes to have these alarms caught then there is an automatic setup in place to add alarms for 0 input devices. Alarms will be added for both unknown devices and known devices with an input of 0, this functionality is done via the GetConfig method. If you would like to use get config to populate the 0 input alarms, then go to Amagrouter config file and set "ZeroAlarm" value="True"

 

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FAQ

Amag Router wont start (Error 1053)

This error occurs because of a conflict between the version of Microsoft .Net installed on the server and the version the router was compiled in (4.5). The issue can be resolved by updating the version of Microsoft .Net to at least 4.5.1

 

Alarm is received with an Input value of 0

When an alarm is triggered that has an unknown device type, it is submitted into SureView with an input of 0. The alarm will contain as much detail as possible about the device and will be placed into the correct site (if possible).

Currently the known devices types are:

• Monitor Point Device
• Auxiliary Output Device
• Reader Device
• Floor Group Device
• Intrusion Area
• Door Device
• Floor Device
• Node Device
• Reader Group Device
• DCU Device
• Intrusion Zone
• Amag Unknown Device
• System Device (Input 72939)
• PassBack Alerts (Input 80727)

To automatically set up alarms to catch input 0, ensure that the ZeroAlarm option is set to true in the SVAmagRouter config file. With ZeroAlarm set as true, the GetConfig for the site will create '0 input' alarms for each known type.

 

My router wont connect

This could be due to multiple reasons:

• XML Open Integration Module License

To be able to communicate with the third party software, Symmetry requires a Open integration license to be enabled/added. If your setup does not contain a license, please contact Amag in regards to obtaining one. You can find if your Symmetry setup has this license by checking in the maintenance section:

Also please note, the XML Module MUST match the version, down to the last integer, of the current version of Amag on that server. If it does not it will not properly communicate with SureView or Amag. Example would be if the Symmetry Software is version 8.1.0.27, the XML Module must also be that same version. You can check this through add/delete programs on the server.

• Login to the Amag Symmetry software:

The router needs to sign into Symmetry in order to send relay commands to connected devices. Please ensure that the login credentials stored in the router .config file are valid. You can do this by using them to sign into the Symmetry interface. The credentials to be used can be found in the routers .config:

• Login to the Amag Database

The router needs to sign into the Amag database in order to pull alarms. Please ensure that the login information supplied in the router .config file can be used to log into the database (if the values are left blank, windows authorisation will be used for the current user):

• Symmetry Version

Please ensure that the Amag router has had its .config set to the correct version of the Symmetry sofware.

 

Amag Router outputting error on startup

If the router is outputting: "There is already a listener on IP endpoint 0.0.0.0:12003" then the alarm device port that the router is trying to listen on is already taken by another service. To resolve this issue, update the config file of the Router and Receiver service. Changing the value "AlarmPort" to a different open port. 

Note: "AlarmPort" must be the same number in both router and receiver service

 

How to check the Node status

Login to the Symmetry software on Amag server. Go to Maintenance -> Node Status

Click Search button in the new window which opens. Select the Node you want to check the status for and click 'Open'.