---
title: Adding a Broadcaster Cluster – Manual
slug: zen-master/adding-a-broadcaster-cluster-manual
docTags: 
createdAt: 2024-12-27T16:04:24.557Z
---

**To add a Manual Broadcaster Cluster:**

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In the main navigation, select **Broadcasters**.

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Click **+ Add.**
The **Create New Broadcaster Cluster** screen is displayed:

![Create new Cluster](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/mzxtTQEvCNIdUNgF2kuwJ/qOYE_O1m49eCJCKmxubQ0_image.png)
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In the **Info** section, in the **Name** field, type a logical name for the Zixi Broadcaster Cluster resource.
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In the **Tags** field, select one or more of the predefined Tags from the drop-down list.
Tags are used for access control. By selecting a Tag, you are relating this Cluster to that Tag. Tags are associated with certain roles (through the Users & Roles screen), and roles, in turn, are associated with users and user groups. If you would like to create a new Tag, see [Creating a Tag](docId\:YpM9tw81ap6nq8sTKv4Rd) .
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In the **Events Configuration Profile** field, select from the dropdown list the profile that you would like to apply to this cluster. By default, the Default profile is applied.

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*Events Profiles* consist of a series of rules that determine precisely how various types of Events are logged and what results they trigger.
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In the **DNS Prefix** field, enter a unique domain name for sending the streams to/from this cluster.
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DTLS is session based encryption over the connection, establish on the network link when the connection is made, using the broadcasters web certificate. Under **DTLS**, select one of the following:

- **Clear Only** - select this option if you do not wish to use DTLS, only clear ports (2077+2088)
- **Dual Mode** - Select this option to support both DTLS encrypted and non-DTLS/clear ports (2077/2088 + 7077+7088)
- **DTLS Only** - Select this option to support DTLS encrypted Zixi connections only. This means that ZEN Master won't create non-DTLS Zixi connections on the cluster, i.e., no clear traffic on port 2077+2088 (7077+7088 only).
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If you selected the **DTLS Mode** or **DTLS Dual Mode options**,  then the **Ignore DTLS certificate when not supported** checkbox appears. Select this checkbox if you would like to enable resources using older versions of Zixi software (\<v12.2) that don't support verification of the ZEN DTLS certificate to connect to this cluster
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Select the **Log SCTE-35** checkbox if you would like to log SCTE-35 markers for streams in this cluster.

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- To log SCTE-35 markers, SCTE-35 needs to be enabled both on the cluster and in the Source configuration.
- SCTE-35 logging is only available for v13.1.40262+ Broadcaster
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Select the **RTMP Server** checkbox if you would like to receive RTMP push inputs.
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If you selected **RTMP Server**, in he **RTMP Server Port** field, enter the number of the RTMP server port.
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If you want to configure an alternative path for disaster recovery, in the **Alternative Cluster (Disaster Recovery)** field, select the Cluster that will be used as the alternative path. For more details, see [Disaster Recovery (Alternative Path)](docId\:poo4ZS1-ZjRa1snDylqE0).
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In the **Configuration** section, in the **Management Type** field, for manual management, verify that **Manual** is selected. After creating a Broadcaster Cluster with manual management, you must add Broadcaster instances for use in the cluster. To do this, see [Adding a Broadcaster to a Manual Cluster](docId\:xYscySO498lY77ZjQr-51).

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To create a Broadcaster Cluster with ZEN Master managed Broadcasters, see [Adding a Broadcaster Cluster - Managed](docId:6sLx4TD__ZKr2XFhO8qZ6).
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In the **Authorization Mode** field, select one of the following options:

- **ZEN Master** – ZEN Master automatically verifies the authorization for each ZEN entity (e.g. sources, channels and targets) that accesses the Broadcaster cluster. If you would like to allow access to inputs/outputs that are not configured in ZEN Master, then in the **Allow access…** section, select the **Push Inputs** and/or **Pull Outputs**
- **Global Password&#x20;**– Broadcasters are automatically configured to authorize all connections using a single global password. The global password will be used in the Source Password field when you configure a Source. In the **Password** field, enter the password OR click **Random&#x20;**&#x74;o generate a random password.
- **Free for All&#x20;**– Broadcasters will be automatically configured to allow all inputs/outputs to connect. Select **Inputs** and/or **Outputs** to automatically allow them to connect.
- **Manual** – ZEN will not authorize connections. You will need to authorize each connection independently.
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Under **Allow access to inputs not configured in ZEN Master**, select the **Push Inputs** checkbox if you would like to automatically allow access to Push Inputs. Select the **Pull Outputs** checkbox if you would like to automatically allow access to Pull Outputs
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Select the **Deletion protectio**n checkbox if you want to prevent deletion of the Broadcaster Cluster.
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If you would like to adjust the advanced settings, click **Advanced**.
The **Advanced settings** window is displayed:

![Advanced Settings](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/mzxtTQEvCNIdUNgF2kuwJ/uEO2UWM_eEjyQNR8jY-zW_image.png)
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Adjust the following advanced settings as desired:

- **Load Balance Pull Targets** – select one of the following load balancing methods for Pull outputs:
  - **Minimize the number of broadcasters&#x20;**(default)– transfers excess load to other broadcasters only when the allotted capacity on the host broadcaster is filled.
  - **Uniform distribution** – distributes the load equally between all available broadcasters under all circumstances.
- **HTTP Streaming Port&#x20;**– You can change the HTTP streaming port from the default (*7777*) to a custom port. The custom port should match the configuration on the Zixi Broadcaster.
- **Bandwidth Limits&#x20;**– set the bandwidth limits.
- The **Transcode Thresholds&#x20;**&#x61;re used by ZEN Master to determine whether an additional transcoded Channel can be added to the broadcaster. Adjust the following thresholds as desired:
  - **CPU Threshold&#x20;**– percentage of CPU being used.
  - **Memory Threshold&#x20;**– percentage of memory being used.
  - **GPU Threshold&#x20;**– percentage of GPU being used.[\[1\]](docId\:lUGqITvwdm0YIpL102_px) &#x20;
  - **GPU Memory Threshold&#x20;**– percentage of GPU memory being used.
  - **GPU Decoder Threshold&#x20;**– percentage of GPU decoder pipeline being used.
  - **GPU Encoder Threshold&#x20;**– percentage of GPU encoder pipeline being used.
- If you would like to track usage for this Broadcaster, enter your **Billing Code** details, see [Billing Codes](docId\:lalXJ_N928TeGCPDpBirJ) . (Supported for Broadcasters v14.8+)
- **External Authorization** - if you want, in addition to the to the standard internal authorization process, you can add an external authorization service. In this case, the requests for connections will be redirected to the external service for authorization. For example, an external pay-per-view application can confirm that a requesting end-device belongs to an account that has paid for a live event. Another example could be some external security management application that is managing firewalls accepting requests from dynamic IPs in a consumer network. To enable, set the following parameters:
  - **Server Endpoint** - the URL of the external authorization server endpoint.&#x20;
  - **Authorization Header Type (optional)** - the type of authorization header schema (e.g., basic).&#x20;
  - **Authorization Header Credentials (optional)** - the authorization header credentials code.&#x20;
- If you want to install AgentZ automatically, select the **Install AgentZ automatically** checkbox. Agent Z is a Sidecar tool that sits on a Zixi Broadcaster, it acquires the system health data and other statistics locally and pushes it to ZEN Master. By enabling this option, ZEN Master will automatically install AgentZ on any existing and future Broadcasters connected to the Cluster. The feature is off by default. Due to AgentZ installation requiring a restart, ZEN Master will not auto-install AgentZ on a Broadcaster that already contains any inputs to avoid disturbing active streams. It is also possible to install AgentZ manually on a Broadcaster. Unlike the ZEN Master install, the manual install does not force a Broadcaster restart. The manual AgentZ installer can be downloaded from the Zixi Customer Portal and instructions are provided in the AgentZ Installation Guide.
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Click **Save**.

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The Broadcaster Cluster will only be functional once you add one or more Broadcaster instances to the cluster. First you need to add the Broadcaster (see [Adding a Broadcaster to a Manual Cluster](docId\:xYscySO498lY77ZjQr-51)  ), and then you need to connect the Broadcasters to ZEN Master (see [Connecting the Zixi Broadcaster (Zixi Broadcaster UI – For Manual)](docId\:OeXqmQgq_YZFbIi_OqjPO) ).
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### Notes

1. &#x20;The GPU thresholds are only relevant for transcoding workflows using Intel Quick Sync or NVIDIA GPUs.