Quickstart

This guide walks you through the fastest path from a powered-on appliance to making your first route.

1. Access the admin panel

1. Check the appliance’s HDMI output for its IP address.
2. Open a browser and go to http://<appliance-ip>:3030.

2. Associate with your organization

1. In the Organization section, click Sign In.
2. Authenticate with your Birch credentials.
3. Select your organization (or it will auto-select if you only have one).
4. Confirm the organization name and appliance ID appear.

3. Deploy services

1. Scroll to the System section.
2. Verify the correct environment is selected (Staging or Production).
3. Click Check Updates, then Apply Update.
4. Wait for the download, pull, and restart phases to complete.

Note

The first deployment takes 5–10 minutes while service images are downloaded.

4. Sign in to the web interface

1. Open https://staging.birchapp.net in your browser.
2. Sign in with your Birch credentials.
3. Select your organization.
4. Your appliance should appear on the Dashboard as online.

5. Add a router

1. Navigate to Devices in the sidebar.
2. Click your appliance, then click Add Router.
3. Enter the router’s name, protocol driver, IP address, and port.
4. Click Save — Birch connects and discovers the router’s sources and destinations.

Tip

Not sure which protocol to choose? Check Supported Protocols. For Blackmagic Videohub routers, use bmd on port 9990.

6. Create virtual objects

Before you can route, you need to create virtual sources and destinations from the router’s physical ports.

1. Navigate to your router’s Physical Ports tab.
2. In the Sources column, click Create Virtuals. A modal opens showing all available source ports.
3. Optionally add a prefix or suffix to customize the names (e.g., prefix “Studio A” to get “Studio A Camera 1”).
4. Select the ports you want (all are selected by default) and click Create Virtuals.
5. Repeat for Destinations — click Create Virtuals in the destinations column and follow the same process.

The virtual sources and destinations now appear in the routing panel.

7. Make your first route

1. Navigate to Routing in the sidebar.
2. Select a source (green, top section).
3. Select a destination (orange, bottom section).
4. The route executes — you should see it transition from Pending to Complete.

That’s it. You’re routing.