Receive "Password file read access must be restricted" error on Windows (solution)

Wowza Streaming Engine
1

Problem

On the Windows platform configuring JMXOPTIONS options com.sun.management.jmxremote.password.file and com.sun.management.jmxremote.access.file in [install-dir]/bin/startup.bat, leads to the error “Password file read access must be restricted” when trying to start the Wowza Media Pro server.

Workaround

  • Create a folder at the root of your C: drive named WowzaMediaServerProJMX.

  • Copy the [install-dir]/conf/jmxremote.access and [install-dir]/conf/jmxremote.password into this new folder.

  • Open a DOS command shell, change directory to C:\WowzaMediaServerProJMX, and run the following cacls command on the two files:

    cacls jmxremote.password /P [username]:R

    cacls jmxremote.access /P [username]:R

    Where [username] is the name of the user you are logged in as.

  • Edit [install-dir]/bin/startup.bat and change the following lines:

    from:

    rem set JMXOPTIONS=%JMXOPTIONS% -Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.port=1099

    rem set JMXOPTIONS=%JMXOPTIONS% -Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.authenticate=true

    rem set JMXOPTIONS=%JMXOPTIONS% -Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.ssl=false

    rem set JMXOPTIONS=%JMXOPTIONS% -Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.password.file=“%WMSCONFIG_HOME%/conf/jmxremote.password”

    rem set JMXOPTIONS=%JMXOPTIONS% -Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.access.file=“%WMSCONFIG_HOME%/conf/jmxremote.access”

    to:

    set JMXOPTIONS=%JMXOPTIONS% -Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.port=1099

    set JMXOPTIONS=%JMXOPTIONS% -Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.authenticate=true

    set JMXOPTIONS=%JMXOPTIONS% -Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.ssl=false

    set JMXOPTIONS=%JMXOPTIONS% -Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.password.file=“C:/WowzaMediaServerProJMX/jmxremote.password”

    set JMXOPTIONS=%JMXOPTIONS% -Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.access.file=“C:/WowzaMediaServerProJMX/jmxremote.access”

    [install-dir]

    Windows (default): C:\Program Files\Wowza Media Systems\Wowza Media Server Pro

    Mac OS X: /Library/WowzaMediaServerPro

    Linux: /usr/local/WowzaMediaServerPro

    You should now be able to remotely connect to the JMX interface of the Wowza Pro server over port 1099 using the username admin and password admin. You can change the username and password by editing C:\WowzaMediaServerProJMX\jmxremote.password. You may need to change the file permission back to read/write through the file Properties>Security (tab), to modify the username and pasword values. Once you have edited these files to your liking, use the cacls command in step #3 to set the file permissions back to read-only.

    Charlie