Workstation installation and administration

This page is for IT administrators and TDs who install Bernard on workstations and set its behavior. Sections reserved for administrators are flagged at the top.

Installing and updating the server is not described here: it is handled by the Bernard team.

Installing Bernard on a workstation

Reserved for workstation administrators.

The Windows installer installs the Bernard client and, optionally, the tools it needs.

What the installer adds

Bernard itself;
third-party tools: file copying (rclone), video conversion (FFmpeg), mesh simplification (simplify);
Bernard Review, the review player (see Review).

How the third-party tools arrive

The installer does not bundle them: it downloads them during installation, from their official source, and checks their integrity before copying them. The workstation must therefore be able to reach the Internet during installation.
Each tool is a checkbox on the installer's tasks page, ticked by default: you can leave some out (rclone, FFmpeg, simplify, Bernard Review).
A tool that cannot be downloaded or installed (offline workstation, proxy, full disk) does not prevent Bernard from installing: the end-of-installation summary reports it. In a silent installation, no question is asked.
Task scripts that use FFmpeg look for it in the installation's third-party tools folder, on Windows as on Linux, and stop with a clear message if it is missing.

Bernard Review at installation

It installs in the background, only when a newer version is available. If the workstation already has the same or a newer version, nothing is downloaded.
If it is open during installation, it is closed automatically before being updated. In case of failure, the end-of-installation summary gives the reason.
File associations (which program opens which extension) remain decided by Bernard's settings, not by the Bernard Review installer.

After installation. The installer sets a system environment variable that points to Bernard's installation folder (it is used by scripts and plugins). It offers a desktop icon, unticked by default, and launching Bernard at the end.

Systems and requirements

The Bernard client exists for Windows; installers are also built for Linux and macOS in the repository.
The plugin manager only works on Windows.
Bernard's engine has been in Python 3.14 since 2.1.48: the installed application bundles its components.

Updating

Reserved for administrators.

The server is updated before the workstations: a new workstation needs the new server. Warn the Bernard team before deploying a new version of the client.

To update a workstation, run the new installer: it follows the latest version published on Bernard's download page.
The version is shown on the startup screen, in the title bar and in the menu. Since 2.1, it carries the suffix "RC" (release candidate) as long as it is not final.
The old SFTP update mechanism has been removed.
If your artists use 3DEqualizer, reinstall the 3DE plugin once after updating to 2.1.48 (r8 and r8.1 are supported by the same plugin as r7).

Workstation settings

The workstation's settings are in Bernard › Settings › Local Settings (see Local Settings). Every user has access to them. The ones that concern administering a workstation:

Setting	Effect
Max Simultaneous Script	number of task scripts launched at the same time on the workstation (3 by default)
Max Simultaneous Action	number of actions launched at the same time (3 by default)
Max Simultaneous File Operation	number of file operations at the same time (5 by default)
Quiet File Operations
RClone Network Max Usage	maximum share of the network card used by file copies (90% by default)
Auto Cache
External Api Port	local port through which plugins and the Python API talk to Bernard; only change it at the administrator's request
Show splashscreen	shows or hides the startup screen
Media player	the workstation's media player: Studio default, Legacy, Bernard Review (see Review)

File copies. They go through rclone, one at a time by default in the queue, and limit their throughput to 90% of the network card so as not to saturate the link or cut the connection. Lower RClone Network Max Usage if the studio network is shared.

Studio settings

Reserved for administrators. In Bernard › Settings › Global Settings (see Global Settings):

Idle Timeout, Lock Session Timeout, Close Session Timeout: presence and the closing of sessions;
Database read timeout (seconds): a read slower than this delay is interrupted and noted in the log;
the limits of a script task's log;
Minimum decimal display for float properties: minimum number of decimals displayed (1.3 becomes 1.30), without rounding the values entered.

Global Settings › Bernard Image Viewer sets the studio's media player (see Review). Global Settings › Spreadsheet sets the filtering mode of spreadsheet tabs.

Presence and time spent. The server computes time spent and the current task by itself. A user who signs out is only considered gone after the company's idle delay. A locked Windows session or a disconnected remote session puts the user in Idle right away. The time of day change for night teams is set in Working Time (3 a.m. by default).

Plugins. Installing or removing the plugins of content creation software is done in Local Settings › Plugins Manager, generally with the machine's administrator rights (see DCC integrations).

Email notifications. Notification emails are grouped into one summary per user every 5 minutes (50 lines at most). Each user chooses their channel in Local Settings › Notification (In Bernard, By e-mail, Both, None): see Notifications.

Citrix and remote sessions

Bernard has been adapted to virtualized workstations (Citrix):

Images without drag and drop. Where drag and drop is not possible, the thumbnail, the icon, the project banner and the cover photo offer Load image (browse)… and Save image as… in their menu. An image located on a read-only share is accepted. To add a file version, use Add file (browse)….
Disconnected session. A disconnected remote session puts the user in Idle immediately: no more users "online" all night.
Redirected profile. The Earlier notes of Bernard Review are also displayed when the Windows profile is redirected to a network share.
Network throughput. File copies are throttled (see above).
Disk space in profiles. Bernard keeps in the user's profile, in the .bernard folder, a thumbnail cache that grows with the projects viewed, and longer logs: up to 10 files of 20 MB (5 files of 1 MB previously). Plan for these volumes in the quotas of roaming profiles.

Diagnosing a workstation

The Bernard Log window (Windows menu, Ctrl+Shift+L) shows the log in real time, in color. It helps support.
An error report sent at startup names the client version concerned and keeps the trace of errors.
If Plugins Manager displays "Permission denied !", restart Bernard as administrator.