Troubleshooting Tip: Unable to replay a video captured with FortiPAM

Description

This article describes a situation where the user is unable to replay a recorded video: it continuously loads and never starts.

Scope

FortiPAM, FortiSRA.

Solution

The reason that the recorded video is not playable is that the session is not closed gracefully, and the uploaded manifest is not in a static state.

The only way to reproduce the video is by downloading the parts and joining them all together with the following procedure. 

Note: This issue was fixed, and it will be released as a patch for all 1.x versions. This issue could impact all 1.x versions.  

Note that the video upload is in real time regardless of whether the live recording feature is enabled or not. 

Procedure:

1. Locate and download the video files: Log in to the FortiPAM console and execute the appropriate command:

Method 1:

fnsysctl ls -l /var/storage/HD2-XXXXXXXXXXX/wa_vid/

This will list all folders in the video storage, separated by date, and search by the date of the video. Then, search for the 'Token ID' of the video File. The Token ID is under the video log properties.

fnsysctl ls -l /var/storage/HD2-XXXXXXXXXXX/wa_vid/<folder>/<token id>

The Token ID can be obtained from the FortiPAM GUI by navigating to Log & Report -> Secret Event & Video, locating the corresponding video event, and identifying the entry where the Operation column displays 'Video upload finished'. The Token ID is displayed in the log details:

For example:

fnsysctl ls -l /var/storage/HD2-XXXXXXXXXXX/wa_vid/1888/13089222

Method 2:

diagnose debug application httpsd -1 
diagnose debug enable

Next, try to use the browser to replay the video in FortiPAM.

Search in the logs for similar paths to the following:

[httpsd 7822 - 1738171797 info] fweb_debug_final[303] -- Completed GET request for "/wa_vid/1888/46268314/manifest.mpd" (HTTP 200)

The only required files are:

• chunk_00000* (all of them).

• init.hdr.

Download all of these files using the browser with the constructed URL (hostname + path). For example: https://<fortipam_hostname_or_ip>/wa_vid/1849/48982018/init.hdr.

2. Create a WebM file: Creating a WebM file with these files requires a cat command, available in all Linux OSs, but can also be installed in Windows, and the execution is as follows:

Linux OS:

cat init.hdr chunk_000001.chk chunk_000002.chk 
chunk_000003.chk chunk_00000N.chk > play.webm

Windows PowerShell:

type init.hdr chunk*.chk > play.webm

Note: Put all of the .hdr and .chk files into one folder, then enter the folder via the CLI (Linux or Win PowerShell) to execute the command. The same folder will show the .webm file. 'pay.webm' is the resulting video.