NVR and VMS setup, retention and evidence export
Setting up a recorder or video management system so the footage is there and usable when it matters: adding cameras with ONVIF profiles, addressing and time sync, recording modes and edge failover, retention set by policy and law, users and audit, and exporting video for an investigation in its native format with an integrity check and an audit trail.
- Level
- Intermediate
- Length
- About 65 minutes
- Contents
- 3 lessons · 1 video · final exam
- Status
- Published · updated 3 Oct 2026
Skills you'll practise
- Identify which ONVIF profile covers streaming, recording, advanced codecs and analytics metadata, and check conformance before mixing brands
- Configure addressing, time synchronisation and recording modes so recordings are complete and correctly timed
- Explain who decides retention and contrast UK police and EU data protection guidance on it
- Apply least privilege and individual accounts to VMS users and read an audit log
- Export video for an investigation in native format with player, time check, hash and audit record
Course outline
- 1.NVR and VMS setup, retention and evidence exportVideo · 2 min
- 2.Adding cameras: ONVIF, addresses and timeLesson · 22 min
- 3.Retention, users and auditLesson · 20 min
- 4.Exporting video for an investigationLesson · 23 min
- 5.NVR and VMS setup, retention and evidence export: knowledge checkKnowledge check · 22 questions
- 6.Final exam10 questions · passing it completes the course, so people who already know the material can test out
Sources it draws on
The lessons and questions are written from these references, so learners can go back to the original.
- ONVIF: Profiles (S, T, G, M video profiles; Profile S deprecation in process; Profile Q deprecated)
- ONVIF Profile T (H.264/H.265, imaging settings, motion and tampering events, metadata, HTTPS streaming)
- ONVIF Profile G (edge storage, recording control, search and replay)
- ONVIF Profile M (metadata and analytics, object classification, events over MQTT)
- UK Home Office / Dstl: UK Police Requirements for CCTV Systems (quality, storage, export, playback) (UK example)
- UK Home Office: Recovery and acquisition of video evidence (time check, audit trail, native format, integrity) (UK example)
- European Data Protection Board: Guidelines 3/2019 on processing of personal data through video devices (layered signs, storage periods) (EU example)
- UK ICO: Video surveillance guidance, how to comply with the data protection principles (signs, audio off by default, retention, masking, DPIA) (UK example)
- Axis Communications white paper: Surveillance cards for edge storage (endurance, failover recording)
See it with your own jobs and topics
Tell us about your team and we'll walk you through setup, from choosing jobs to your first skills check.