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Moving a local catalog to the server

A catalog created with the standalone Fast Video Cataloger application can be moved to the server with no conversion — the file format is identical.

The simplest path is to open the catalog in the desktop application and use the Share → Share Catalog wizard. The wizard configures the server, registers the catalog, and connects you back through the server in one pass. See Share a Catalog Using the Server.

What about the video files?

You don't need to move the video files themselves, but where they live affects which hosting option you can use:

  • Built-in HTTP server (recommended, new in version 10) — videos can stay anywhere on disk. The server streams them by ID, so no common root folder is required and the catalog's existing paths can be used as-is.
  • Windows share — all video files must live under a single common root folder that can be shared. If your catalog references videos on multiple drives or scattered folders, either consolidate them first or use the built-in HTTP server instead.
  • External web server — videos must be placed under the web server's document root.

Manual configuration

If you prefer to edit serverconfig.xml by hand instead of running the wizard:

  1. Stop the server.
  2. Set <CatalogFile> to the full path of the .vcat file.
  3. Set <VideoFileLocalRoot> (and PhotoFileLocalRoot, ActorPhotoFileLocalRoot) to the local folder roots.
  4. Set the matching share-root or URL-root entries depending on which file-hosting option you are using.
  5. Restart the server.

See Serverconfig.xml for the full schema.