Guides › Running a site

Add a recording server

Updated 2026-10-22

Spread cameras across several machines that all appear as one site.

A site has one management server (users, rules, the dashboard) and one or more recording servers (cameras and video). A small site runs both on one machine. Add recording servers when you run out of disk or CPU, or have cameras in another building.

Sentinel Admin recording servers list with Enroll server button
The Recording Servers page. Enroll server is in the top right.

Enroll the new machine

  1. Install the Sentinel server on the new machine as for Linux or Mac.
  2. In Admin → Servers → Recording Servers choose Enroll server. Sentinel creates a one-time token, valid for one hour, and shows the command to run.
  3. Click Copy command and run it on the new machine. It connects back to the management server over an encrypted link and appears in the list.

Move cameras

Edit a camera in Admin → Devices → Cameras and pick the new recording server. Older recordings stay where they were recorded and remain playable.

If the management server goes down

Recording servers keep recording, and keep serving live view and playback to signed-in viewers, until it is back.

← What Sentinel Cloud sends and stores Upgrade Sentinel →

More guides, including Sentinel Cloud setup and users and roles, are in the knowledge base for signed-in users.