Pexip app for Windows planning and prerequisites

The Pexip app for Windows is an installable software client that provides access to Pexip Infinity conferencing services, allowing users to join conferences and make calls, as well as register to receive incoming calls. It is currently supported on Microsoft Windows 10 or later. The information on this page provides an overview of the prerequisites and minimum requirements of the Pexip app for Windows, and how to prepare your Pexip Infinity deployment to support use of the app.

On this page:

Pexip Infinity minimum version

Pexip Infinity version 37 or later is required.

Minimum hardware requirements

We recommend that Windows devices using the Pexip app meet the following minimum CPU and GPU specifications for DirectX 12 rendering:

  • Processor (CPU) minimum:

    • Intel: 11th Gen Intel Core (Tiger Lake-H) (e.g., Intel Core i5-11300H or i7-11800H)
    • AMD: Zen 3 (Ryzen 5000 Series) (e.g., AMD Ryzen 5 5600U or Ryzen 7 5800H)
  • CPU must support AVX.

  • Dedicated GPU (if available):

    • NVIDIA: GeForce GTX 1660 / RTX 2060
    • AMD: Radeon RX 5500 XT
    • Intel: Arc A380

  • Recommended minimum integrated GPU (if no dedicated GPU is available):

    • Intel Iris Xe Graphics (found in 11th Gen Intel Tiger Lake CPUs such as i5-1135G7 or i7-1185G7)
    • AMD Radeon Vega 7/8 (found in AMD Ryzen 5 5600U / Ryzen 7 5800U)

  • DirectX 12 requirements:

    • System must support DirectX 12 with feature level 12_0 or higher.
    • For optimum performance, we recommend dedicated GPUs, but modern integrated GPUs such as Intel Iris Xe and AMD Radeon Vega 7/8 can provide acceptable performance at lower resolutions.
    • Ensure the latest GPU drivers are installed to fully utilize DirectX 12 acceleration.

Enabling registrations

Registration is mandatory as it allows the app to:

  • receive calls
  • place calls (outbound calls are always routed via the Conferencing Node to which the app is registered)
  • use directory services to filter and lookup the contact details (phone book) of other devices or VMRs that are set up on the Pexip Infinity platform, making it easier to call those addresses.

Authenticating registrations and users

Registrations must be authenticated using an Identity Provider (IdP), with app users entering their SSO credentials to sign in and register.

To enable registration authentication you must:

  • Configure Pexip Infinity with the aliases to be registered.
  • Configure Pexip Infinity with details of an Identity Provider to use to authenticate registrations.

  • Configure the Identity Provider to support authentication of registrations.

    We have provided step-by-step guides for configuring common SAML Identity Providers, including the open-source Keycloak (which may be an option if you only require an IdP for Pexip app registrations).

For full instructions, see Authenticating app registrations using Identity Providers.

Usernames, display names, video addresses and aliases

When registering and authenticating with the IdP using SSO:

  • Users enter their video address in the app. This video address must match a device alias configured on Pexip Infinity.

  • When authenticating with the Identity Provider, users must enter their email address as their SSO username. If your users' device aliases (video addresses) are different from their email addresses, we recommend you use a SAML-based IdP.

  • The user's display name is obtained from the Identity Provider during registration and cannot be changed by the user.

  • If a registered app user joins a VMR that requires authentication and the VMR uses a different Identity Provider to that used for registration, their display name will be the name provided during the VMR authentication process.

Setting up DNS records

The Pexip app for Windows takes the domain entered by the user in the app's Your video address field and performs a DNS SRV lookup on _pexapp._tcp.<domain> to locate a Conferencing Node to which it can send its registration request. When registered, all outbound calls from the app are placed via this Conferencing Node.

You must therefore ensure that appropriate DNS records have been set up. For more information, see DNS records and firewalls for Pexip Windows app connectivity.

Provisioning the app

Pexip app for Windows users can manually enter their registration address and select their device settings. However, as an administrator you can provision individual users with pre-configured settings for their app. You can do this prior to the app being launched for the first time using a CLI, or at any time using a URI.

Using a CLI

When provisioning using a command line interface such as PowerShell, note that:

  • Provisioning must be done before the app is launched for the first time.
  • You can run the command as many times as you wish before the app is launched.

  • The calling process must run from C:\Windows\System32\.. (PowerShell.exe meets this criteria).

  • The calling process must wait for the Pexip app for Windows to complete before exiting.

To provision an app via PowerShell, run a command in the format:

Start-Process "pexip-provision://settings?name-value pairs"

For example, to set the following:

alias=alice@pexample.com&videoQuality=high&defaultJoin=video&muteMicrophoneOnJoin=true

you run:

Start-Process "pexip-provision://settings?alias=alice@pexample.com&videoQuality=high&defaultJoin=video&muteMicrophoneOnJoin=true"

Using a URI

To provision an app via a clickable URI (for example, to include in a provisioning email), create a URI in the format:

pexip-provision://settings/?data=<Base64 encoded name-value pairs>

For example, to set the following:

alias=alice@pexample.com&videoQuality=high&defaultJoin=video&muteMicrophoneOnJoin=true

you Base64-encode the above string(using a tool of your choice) and include it in the URI as follows:

pexip-provision://settings/?data=YWxpYXM9YWxpY2VAcGV4YW1wbGUuY29tJnZpZGVvUXVhbGl0eT1oaWdoJmRlZmF1bHRKb2luPXZpZGVvJm11dGVNaWNyb3Bob25lT25Kb2luPXRydWU=

When users click on the link their app will be populated with the settings you have configured. They can override these at any time.

Provisioning settings

The name-value pairs that can be used to provision user settings are given below. All fields are optional.

Name Values Description
alias string The alias the app will use when registering to Pexip Infinity. This will be the user's display name.
videoQuality veryHigh, high, medium, low

The maximum bandwidth of the video in a call. Slow or unstable connections might require a lower quality.

The options restrict the bandwidth of the call as follows:

  • low: 576 kbps
  • medium: 1264 kbps
  • high: 2464 kbps
  • veryHigh: 6144 kbps
defaultJoin video, audio, presentation

The default option when the user joins a call:

Video: users send and receive both audio and video, and can share content and view content that is being shared.

Audio: users will not send or receive video; they will send and receive audio, and can share content and view content that is being shared.

Presentation: users will not send or receive video or audio; they can only share content and view content that is being shared.
muteCameraOnJoin

true, false

 Whether the camera is turned off by default when first joining a meeting.
muteMicrophoneOnJoin true, false Whether the microphone is turned off by default when first joining a meeting.
openSharedContent true, false

Whether content shared in a meeting will open in a separate window by default.

This can be useful for users with two monitors who wish to view the meeting on one monitor and the shared content on another.
autostart true, false Whether the Pexip app for Windows will automatically start whenever the user's device is started.
incidentReports true, false

Whether incident reports are created. Users can send these to their admin or support teams to help diagnose issues.

The process executing the link must have elevated permissions (for example, PowerShell must be run as an administrator).

User experience

When clicking on the provisioning URI, users will be warned that they should only accept the changes if the link is from a trusted source:

If the link is attempting to change the alias that the user has registered, they will receive a warning:

Customization

App customization, such as the ability to display an image or logo on a landing page, is not currently available in the Pexip app for Windows.

User guide

For end user information on how to install and use the Pexip app for Windows, see Pexip app for Windows user guide.