Permanent Installations

Permanent installations — museum exhibits, lobby displays, digital signage, visitor attractions — run unattended for hours, days, or years. This guide covers the Exaplay 3 features designed specifically for this use case.

Key Principles for Installations

1. Unattended operation — the system must run without a human operator present.
2. Automatic recovery — crashes must heal without manual intervention.
3. Scheduled content — content changes must happen automatically at defined times.
4. Remote monitoring — operators must be able to check status remotely.
5. Minimal maintenance — the setup should be stable and require infrequent visits.

Recommended Setup

A reliable installation is just one Windows PC running Exaplay with Auto-Heal enabled, connected to the network by Ethernet (not Wi-Fi). Any browser on the same network can open http://<installation-ip>:8123/control to check status, FPS, and the event log remotely.

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Setup Guide

Step 1 — Create the Content Loop

1. Create a composition with a looping timeline.
2. Set all media clips to Loop: ∞ Infinite or arrange them end-to-end to fill the desired loop duration.
3. If the installation has multiple content pieces that rotate, add them sequentially on Track 1 with crossfades between them.

Step 2 — Configure the Scheduler

Set up opening and closing times so the display is active only during visitor hours:

1. Open Config → Scheduler.
2. Add a Morning event: 08:00 Mon–Sun → Action: Play composition: Main.
3. Add a Evening event: 20:00 Mon–Sun → Action: Fade to black.
4. (Optional) Add a Nightly restart event: 03:00 daily → Action: Stop.

See Scheduler for full details.

Step 3 — Enable Auto-Heal

1. Open Settings → Auto-Heal.

2. Set Enable Auto-Heal to ON.

3. Configure:

   • Save Interval: 2 s (default)
   • Health Interval: 5 s (default)
   • Max State Age: 3600 s (1 hour)

4. Open Settings → Watchdog.

5. Set Watchdog Restart to ON.

6. Set Restart Delay to 5 s.

See Auto-Heal & Watchdog for full details.

Step 4 — Configure Windows for Unattended Operation

These Windows settings prevent common failure modes:

Setting	Where	Recommended value
Auto login	Settings → Accounts → Sign-in options	Enable for the show user
Sleep / Screen timeout	Settings → Power & Sleep	Never (for PC and display)
Windows Update	Group Policy or Settings	Active hours 00:00–23:59 (defer restarts)
Screen saver	Settings → Personalization	Off
UAC prompts	Group Policy	Disable or auto-approve for admin
Firewall	Windows Defender Firewall	Allow Exaplay ports 8123 and 3001

Step 5 — Add Exaplay to Windows Startup

Add Exaplay to Windows startup so it launches automatically after a reboot:

1. Press Win+R, type shell:startup, press Enter.
2. Create a shortcut to exaplay3.exe with arguments:

   -f "C:\Shows\Installation\exhibit.vpp" -playcomp -autoheal-restore

Or use Task Scheduler (more reliable than the Startup folder):

schtasks /create /tn "ExaplayStartup" /tr "\"C:\Program Files\Exaplay3\exaplay3.exe\" -f C:\Shows\exhibit.vpp -playcomp" /sc onlogon /delay 0000:30 /ru SYSTEM

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Remote Monitoring

From any browser on the same network (or over a VPN):

Operator Control View

http://<installation-ip>:8123/control

• Monitor tab — see all active connections and recent events
• DiagnosticsPanel — FPS, CPU, RAM, VRAM health

Checking the Engine Log

Logs are at Documents\Exaplay3\logs\ on the installation PC. Access via Windows Remote Desktop or a shared network folder.

Auto-Heal State File

The last known playback state is at Documents\Exaplay3\logs\autoheal\autoheal_state.json. Inspect it to confirm the system was playing at the expected time.

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Planned Maintenance Schedule

Interval	Task
Weekly	Review engine logs for repeated errors
Monthly	Check disk free space (Documents\Exaplay3\ and media drives)
Quarterly	Clean dust from PC vents and displays
Per update	Test new Exaplay versions in a staging environment before deploying to the installation

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Troubleshooting Unattended Failures

Symptom	Likely cause	Fix
Display black, PC responsive	Engine crashed and did not restart	Check Watchdog Service status via Remote Desktop
Display shows wrong content	Scheduler fired unexpectedly	Review Scheduler log in Monitor tab
PC rebooted mid-show	Windows Update applied a restart	Configure Windows Update deferred restarts; verify startup task fires correctly
Content frozen on one frame	GPU hang — watchdog restarts engine	Check engine log for GL errors; update GPU driver
Network monitoring unreachable	IP address changed (DHCP)	Assign a static IP to the installation PC