¶ 1 Overview
This guide describes how to obtain and install binary packages for the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Polly speech synthesis plugin to the UniMRCP server on Debian-based Linux distributions. The document is intended for system administrators and developers.
¶ 1.1 Applicable Versions
Instructions provided in this guide are applicable to the following versions.
UniMRCP 1.5.0 and above
UniMRCP Polly Plugin 1.0.0 and above
¶ 1.2 Supported Distributions
UniMRCP deb packages are currently available for x86_64 (64-bit) architecture only.
| Operating System | Released | End of Support |
|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu 16.04 LTS (xenial) | August 2018 | March 2021 |
| Ubuntu 18.04 LTS (bionic) | May 2019 | June 2023 |
| Ubuntu 20.04 LTS (focal) | March 2021 | TBA |
| Ubuntu 22.04 LTS (jammy) | April 2023 | TBA |
Packages for other distributions can be made available upon request.
Contact Form Submit an inquiry¶ 1.3 Authentication
UniMRCP binary packages are available to authenticated users only. In order to register a free account, please visit the following page.
Profile Registration Open an account at unispeech.ioA newly registered account needs to be verified by the user and then activated by the administrator prior further proceeding.
Account verification and activation.
The account credentials can be used to log in to the following websites.
¶ 2 Installing Deb Packages Using Apt-Get
Using the APT package handling utility (apt-get) is recommended for installation of UniMRCP binary packages.
¶ 2.1 Repository Configuration
Supply login information by creating a file /etc/apt/auth.conf.d/unimrcp.conf containing the following entry.
machine unimrcp.org
login username
password password
The username and password fields must be replaced with the corresponding account credentials.
Account credentials.
Configure a repository by creating a file /etc/apt/sources.list.d/unimrcp.list containing the following entry.
deb [arch=amd64] https://unimrcp.org/repo/apt/ distr main
The distr field must be replaced with the corresponding distribution code name such as xenial, bionic, focal, etc. To determine the distribution code, use lsb_release -cs.
Distribution code name.
¶ 2.2 GnuPG Key
For verification of binary packages, UniMRCP provides a public GnuPG key, which can be retrieved and installed as follows.
wget -O - https://unimrcp.org/keys/unimrcp-gpg-key.public | sudo apt-key add -
¶ 2.3 Repository Update
In order to check for updates and apply the changes in the APT configuration, use the following command.
sudo apt-get update
¶ 2.4 Polly Plugin Installation
In order to install the Polly plugin, including all the dependencies, use the following command.
sudo apt-get install unimrcp-polly
As a result, apt-get will check and prompt to download all the required packages by installing them in the directory /opt/unimrcp.
In order to install the additional data files for the sample client application umc, the following command can be used.
sudo apt-get install umc-addons
This package is optional and provides additional data to be used for validation of basic setup.
¶ 3 Installing Deb Packages Manually
UniMRCP deb packages can be installed manually using the dpkg utility. Note, however, that the system administrator should take care of package dependencies and install all the packages in appropriate order.
The deb packages have the following naming convention:
$packagename_$universion-$distr_$arch.deb
where
-
packagename is the name of a package
-
universion is the UniMRCP version
-
distr is the distribution code name (trusty, xenial, …)
-
arch is the architecture (amd64, i386, all, …)
¶ 3.1 Package List
The following is a list of UniMRCP deb packages required for the installation of the Polly plugin.
| Package Name | Description |
|---|---|
| unimrcp-polly | AWS Polly plugin to the server. |
| uniawssdk | UniMRCP edition of the AWS SDK CPP library. |
| umc-addons | Sample en-US data files used with umc. [Optional] |
| unilicnodegen | Node information retrieval tool, required for license deployment. |
| unimrcp-server | Shared library and application of the server. |
| unimrcp-client | Shared libraries and sample applications of the client. [Optional] |
| unimrcp-demo-plugins | Set of demo plugins to the server. [Optional] |
| unimrcp-common | Data common for the client and the server. |
| uniapr | UniMRCP edition of the Apache Portable Runtime (APR) library. |
| uniapr-util | UniMRCP edition of the Apache Portable Runtime Utility (APR-Util) library. |
| unisofia-sip | UniMRCP edition of the Sofia SIP library. |
¶ 3.2 Package Installation Order
Packages for APR, APR-Util and Sofia-SIP libraries must be installed first.
sudo dpkg --install uniapr_$aprversion-$distr_$arch.deb
sudo dpkg --install uniapr-util_$apuversion-$distr_$arch.deb
sudo dpkg --install unisofia-sip_$sofiaversion-$distr_$arch.deb
Then, a package containing common data for the client and the server, and a package for the server should follow.
sudo dpkg --install unimrcp-common_$universion-$distr_$arch.deb
sudo dpkg --install unimrcp-server_$universion-$distr_$arch.deb
Next, a package containing the utility tool unilicnodegen, required for license deployment.
sudo dpkg --install unilicnodegen_$toolversion-$distr_$arch.deb
Next, a package containing the AWS SDK library.
sudo dpkg --install uniawssdk_$awssdkversion-$distr_$arch.deb
Finally, a package containing the Polly plugin should follow.
sudo dpkg --install unimrcp-polly_$universion-$distr_all.deb
¶ 4 Obtaining License
The Polly plugin to the UniMRCP server is a licensed software.
Licensing Model Check out the licensing termsIn order to obtain a trial license, node information must be retrieved and submitted for license generation.
¶ 4.1 Node Information Retrieval
Use the installed tool unilicnodegen to retrieve the node information.
sudo /opt/unimrcp/bin/unilicnodegen
As a result, a text file uninode.info will be saved in the current directory.
¶ 4.2 Order Placement
Consider the following procedure to place an order.
- Navigate to https://unispeech.io/polly.
- Under the section Obtain License, select
- License Variation: Trial
- License Term: 30-day
- License Type: Node-bound
- License Quantity: 2
- Click Add to cart and then View cart.
- Click Proceed to checkout and then Place order.
- Attach the retrieved uninode.info file to the placed order.
Ther orders are normally processed within one business day. A license file will be provided as a result.
¶ 4.3 License Installation
The license file needs to be placed into the directory /opt/unimrcp/data.
sudo cp umspolly_*.lic /opt/unimrcp/data
¶ 5 Obtaining Service Credentials
In order to utilize the AWS Polly API, corresponding service credentials need to be retrieved from the AWS console and further installed to the UniMRCP server.
¶ 5.1 Create IAM User
Sign up for an AWS account and create an IAM user.
https://docs.aws.amazon.com/polly/latest/dg/gs-account.html
¶ 5.2 Installation of Credentials
Create a text file aws.credentials in the directory /opt/unimrcp/data.
sudo nano /opt/unimrcp/data/aws.credentials
Place your AWS IAM user credentials in the following format.
{
"aws_access_key_id": "••••••••••••",
"aws_secret_access_key": "••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••"
}
¶ 6 Configuring Server and Plugin
¶ 6.1 Plugin Factory Configuration
In order to load the Polly plugin into the UniMRCP server, open the file unimrcpserver.xml, located in the directory /opt/unimrcp/conf, and add the following entry under the XML element <plugin-factory>. Disable other synthesizer plugins, if available. The demo plugins for other resources can also be disabled.
<!-- Factory of plugins (MRCP engines) -->
<plugin-factory>
<engine id="Demo-Synth-1" name="demosynth" enable="false"/>
<engine id="Polly-1" name="umspolly" enable="true"/>
</plugin-factory>
¶ 6.2 Logger Configuration
In order to enable log output from the plugin and set filtering rules, open the configuration file logger.xml, located in the directory /opt/unimrcp/conf, and add the following entry under the element <sources>.
<source name="POLLY-PLUGIN" priority="INFO" masking="NONE"/>
¶ 6.3 Polly Plugin Configuration
The configuration file of the plugin is located in /opt/unimrcp/conf/umspolly.xml. Default settings should be sufficient for the general use.
Usage Guide Refer to the Usage Guide for more information¶ 7 Validating Setup
Validate your setup by using the sample UniMRCP client and server applications on the same host. The default configuration and data files should be sufficient for a basic test.
¶ 7.1 Launching Server
Launch the UniMRCP server application.
cd /opt/unimrcp/bin
sudo ./unimrcpserver
In the server log output, check whether the plugin is normally loaded.
[INFO] Load Plugin [Polly-1] [/opt/unimrcp/plugin/umspolly.so]
Next, check for the license information.
[NOTICE] UniMRCP Polly License
-product name: umspolly
-product version: 1.0.0
-license owner: -
-license type: trial
-issue date: 2018-08-22
-exp date: 2018-09-21
-channel count: 2
-feature set: 0
Next, check that the service account credentials are normally populated.
[NOTICE] Read AWS Credentials /opt/unimrcp/data/aws.credentials
¶ 7.2 Launching Client
The optional package umc-addons must be installed for this test to work.
Launch the sample UniMRCP client application umc.
cd /opt/unimrcp/bin
./umc
Run a typical speech synthesis scenario by issuing the command run bss1 from the console of the umc client application.
run bss1
This command sends a SPEAK request to the server and then records synthesized stream into a PCM file stored in the directory /opt/unimrcp/var.
Visually inspect the log output for any possible warnings or errors.