Replacing cameras - You can replace a Security Center camera in the case of failure, planned maintenance, or upgrade. - Security Center 5.9 - 5.13

Troubleshooting video units and cameras in Security Center
Product
Security Center
Content type
Troubleshooting
Version
5.13
5.12
5.11
5.10
5.9
ft:locale
en-US
Last updated
2025-09-12

You can replace a Security Center camera in the case of failure, planned maintenance, or upgrade.

Before you begin

  • Make sure that the Archiver role is online. For more information, see Entity states.
  • You need the Modify video unit properties privilege to replace cameras.
  • You need modification privileges for all entities that are updated by the Unit replacement tool:
    • Modify alarm properties
    • Modify event-to-actions
    • Map designer
    • Modify door properties
    • Modify automation properties

    A warning is displayed if you lack a required privilege. If you continue the process, the camera replacement operation fails.

What you should know

  • The Unit replacement tool transfers configurations associated with the old camera to the new camera, including video archives, event logs, alarms, doors, maps, automations, and event-to-actions. The configurations that are transferred depend on the Security Center version you have installed. For more information, see Replacing unit settings from one entity to another.
    IMPORTANT: The system treats replaced cameras as new cameras. If old cameras have associations with other entities in the system, these associations must be manually re-created for the new cameras.
  • If the old camera is included on a map, the Unit replacement tool automatically replaces it with the new camera.
  • You can create an event-to-action using the Unit replaced event.

Procedure

Replacing cameras in Security Center 5.12.2.0 and later

  1. Add a new video unit to the Archiver role that controls the old unit.
  2. From the Config Tool homepage, click Tools > Unit replacement.
    1. On the Source page, select Camera from the Unit type list, select the camera to replace, and click Next.
    2. On the Destination page, select a new camera to replace the old one, and click Next.
    3. On the Options page, select the entities to associate with the new camera.
      Video archives and event logs associated with the old camera are associated with the new camera by default.
    4. On the Options page, select the settings to copy to the new camera. Settings include color, custom fields, motion detection, recording, and so on.
    5. Click Replace.
  3. Replace the associations with each old camera:
    1. Select the camera in the Area view, click the Identity tab, and click Relationships > Part of.
    2. Select a related entity and click Jump to ().
    3. On the entity configuration page, remove the association to the old camera and add the association to the new camera.
  4. Verify that the old camera is replaced with the new camera:
    1. In Security Desk, open the Activity trails task.
    2. Click the Filters tab and select Activities > Video > Video unit replaced.
    3. Click Generate report.
      The replaced cameras are displayed in the report pane.
  5. Verify that the video archives are associated with the new camera:
    1. In Security Desk, open the Archives task.
    2. Select a camera.
      All days that include video archives for the selected camera are listed in the All available tab.
    3. Select a day and click Generate report.
  6. In the Config Tool Video task, right-click the old unit and select Delete ().
  7. Click Delete to confirm deletion.
    You can also choose to delete the archives stored for the camera associated with the unit.

Replacing cameras in Security Center 5.12.1.0 and earlier

  1. Add a new video unit to the Archiver role that controls the old unit.
    NOTE: The new unit must be the same model as the old unit you want to replace.
  2. Using the Copy configuration tool, copy the configuration settings of the old camera to the new camera..
  3. From the Config Tool homepage, click Tools > Unit replacement.
    1. Select the Cameras radio button.
    2. From the Old list, select the camera to replace.
    3. From the New list, select a new camera to replace the old camera.
    4. Click Swap.
  4. Replace the associations with each old camera:
    1. Select the camera in the Area view, click the Identity tab, and click Relationships > Part of.
    2. Select a related entity and click Jump to ().
    3. On the entity configuration page, remove the association to the old camera and add the association to the new camera.
  5. Verify that the old camera is replaced with the new camera:
    1. In Security Desk, open the Activity trails task.
    2. Click the Filters tab and select Activities > Video > Video unit replaced.
    3. Click Generate report.
      The replaced cameras are displayed in the report pane.
  6. Verify that the video archives are associated with the new camera:
    1. In Security Desk, open the Archives task.
    2. Select a camera.
      All days that include video archives for the selected camera are listed in the All available tab.
    3. Select a day and click Generate report.
  7. In the Config Tool Video task, right-click the old unit and select Delete ().
  8. Click Delete to confirm deletion.
    You can also choose to delete the archives stored for the camera associated with the unit.