Patriot TCP/IP Proxy
This program allows sniffing of TCP/IP communication between an alarm receiver (and possibly direct with IP based alarm panels), and an existing monitoring package. Its intended to allow Patriot to be setup in parallel with the monitoring package and receive but not acknowledge IP signals.
Patriot TCP/IP Proxy license must be obtained from your Patriot distributor and installed to the program installation folder. If you do not have a license or your license expires, the proxy will cease transmitting receiver communications to your secondary monitoring system.
Summary
This proxy is only likely to work with simple IP protocols like receivers which send a signal and expect an acknowledge back. It may not work with more complex protocols which include encryption etc.
The proxy is designed so the presence of the secondary (listening) software is optional, and will not interfere with the signal processing to the primary.
The proxy supports Receivers which are TCP/IP clients and servers. In all cases the connection to the Secondary Monitoring Software must be setup as a TCP/IP Server (at the Monitoring Software end).
It is vital that the proxy is left running once this is done. If the proxy is closed, the receiver won't be able to transmit to the existing software. You may want to set up the proxy to start automatically with windows.
When disabling the proxy, you will need to restore the original settings in the receiver/existing software so that they communicate directly again.
The secondary monitoring (Patriot task) can be started/stopped without worry, as this won't affect the connection to the main monitoring software. If the secondary monitoring is unavailable or disconnects, the proxy will try to reconnect every 30 seconds, and if secondary Signal Buffering is enabled, then no signals will be lost once the secondary connection is restored.
Setup
Start the proxy program and insert a new proxy (if required).
Enter a name for the proxy.
Then select if the Receiver is a TCP/IP Server or Client. You will need to work this out before progressing. Surgard and FE900 receivers are TCP Servers.
Example of a TCP/IP Server Receiver setup
In the case shown in the above screenshot, the alarm receiver is in fact a software program (e.g. it may be the IRIS or Armour IP software) installed locally on the same server running the proxy (you can tell this because the IP of the receiver is 127.0.0.1). The receiver is listening on local port 8010.
Because the receiver is an IP server, make sure the Receiver is Server is checked.
The Local Proxy Port should be set to a free port on the machine running the proxy program.
The existing automation Software will need to be re-configured so that its existing IP Receiver setup is redirected to the IP address of the machine running the proxy software, and the Local Proxy Port (in this case 8010).
Note: in our example only the port will need to be changed because the alarm receiver and the proxy are both installed on the same server.
When configured press the play button on the proxy software. Then ensure the existing automation software begins communicating with the receiver again. It may take a little time for the automation package to reconnect. You’ll see signals appear in the proxy log once it starts working. Once this is working go to Setup Patriot Receiver Task to Receive in Parallel below.
Example setting up TCP/IP Client Receiver Setup
Ensure Receiver is Server is unchecked.
The Local Proxy Port should be set to a free port on the machine running the proxy program.
The alarm receiver will need to be reconfigured to point to the Proxy software IP address, and Local Proxy Port (in this example 8013).
Note: if the existing automation software is on the same machine as the proxy software, and it’s easier to re-configure the existing automation software than it is to re-configure the alarm receiver, then you could set the Local Proxy Port to the port that is currently being used by the existing automation software. If you do this then you’ll need to reconfigure the existing automation software to use a different port (which you’ll enter into the proxy in the next step).
Next enter into the Primary Monitoring fields the IP and port used by the existing automation software.
When configured press the play button on the proxy software. Then ensure the existing automation software begins communicating. It may take a little time for the automation package to reconnect. You’ll see signals appear in the proxy log once it starts working.
Setup Patriot Receiver Task to Receive in Parallel
Same procedure here for both Server and Client receivers.
Next setup a TCP/IP Server Receiver task in patriot. This must match the type of receiver you are connecting to, but must be a TCP/IP server task, which could be different to what you would use if you were connecting to the receiver directly. Enter in the IP and Port of the Patriot Receiver task into the Secondary Monitoring Host fields of the proxy. Once the Patriot task is started, you will need to stop and start the proxy to apply the changes. The proxy will begin sending duplicate signals after about 30 seconds.
Secondary Signal Buffering
If secondary Signal Buffering is enabled, and the secondary monitoring system connection is lost, then signals will be buffered and re-transmitted to the secondary system once the connection restores. A maximum on 100,000 signal transmissions may be buffered per proxy so be careful not to leave the secondary system disconnected for extended periods of time as signals may be lost. This setting is persistent and will be restored to its previous setting when the proxy is restarted.
Saving Settings and Auto Start
When the proxy program is closed, it will save all settings configured. These will be automatically reloaded when the program is restarted. You can also export and import the settings (using supplied buttons).
Its recommended that once the proxy program is setup and working correctly, its added into the windows startup list, so it will run automatically on computer reboot.