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BriefCam Troubleshooting Guide

When trying to get a live stream from a Milestone VMS, why am I seeing the “Server returned 401 Unauthorized” error?

Last Updated: 1 minute read
Version2024r2
LanguageEnglish

The “Server returned 401 Unauthorized (authorization failed)” error may occur, for example, when:

  • You have more than one WWW-Authenticate header. This can occur in XProtect 2021 R1 and above.

  • A Windows update overwrote the Registry settings, causing newly added cameras to fail. If the registry settings were already configured and you're receiving a 401 error for newly added cameras, it's likely that a Windows update overwrote those settings. This causes authentication to fail for new cameras.

To solve this issue:

  1. Make sure you are using the Milestone Open Network Bridge component. For a detailed step-by-step guide, see https://doc.milestonesys.com/latest/en-US/portal/htm/chapter-page-onvif.htm.

  2. Open the Windows Registry (press Windows + R, type regedit, and press Enter).

  3. Open the following registry: Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Milestone\Milestone Open Network Bridge\

  4. Add the following DWORD value: SHA256Auth.

  5. Set the value to 0.

  6. In the ONB Tray Manager, restart the ONB services.

This registry, introduced in XProtect 2021 R1, disables SHA256 support when FIPS is disabled.

For additional information, see: https://developer.milestonesys.com/s/article/changes-digest-authentication-RTSP-service-in-2021-R1-troubleshooting.