SmartPSS download: get SmartPSS Lite from Dahua, add your devices and fix problems

Install SmartPSS Lite. Dahua describes it as a lightweight platform for small and medium businesses. It shows live video, plays back recordings, receives alarm events from your devices, and also works with Dahua access control devices.

The older SmartPSS is a different program. Dahua's wiki says SmartPSS has been discontinued and is no longer supported for Windows or for Macs with Apple M chips, and it tells people to install SmartPSS Lite instead. Dahua's wiki software page still lists some old SmartPSS files, but Dahua's advice is to use SmartPSS Lite.

Many guides and videos still say SmartPSS, and so do some older Dahua documents. The steps carry over. Dahua's older SmartPSS guide and the SmartPSS Lite manual both use Device Manager, then Auto Search, to find and set up devices.

If you also use Dahua's DMSS phone app, our guide to DMSS for PC explains how the phone app and SmartPSS Lite fit together.

Get it from Dahua only. Dahua's own manual says to get SmartPSS Lite from technical support or by downloading Dahua ToolBox, which lists SmartPSS Lite and opens it for you. Dahua's support site, support.dahuasecurity.com, lists SmartPSS Lite under Tools. Dahua USA's support wiki, dahuawiki.com, also hosts the installers, one for Windows and one for Macs with Apple M chips, with links to the manuals. The Windows file there is a zip, so unzip it before you run it.

Dahua's wiki lists one Mac installer, for Macs with Apple M chips. The old SmartPSS is not supported on those Macs either.

Do not use download sites that are not Dahua, even ones that look like software libraries. SmartPSS Lite keeps the login details of every device you add, so only install a copy that came from Dahua.

The steps below are for Windows.

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Dahua's SmartPSS Lite datasheet from 2022 gives the figures below. It lists Windows 7, 8 and 10 and does not list Windows 11, so check the datasheet on Dahua's support page for the version you download.

• Windows 7, 8 or 10, 64-bit.
• An Intel Core i5-6500 class processor, 8 GB of memory and a 256 GB disk.
• A screen of 1280 by 800 or higher.
• Up to 64 devices and 64 video channels in one copy of the software. Dahua rates the 64-channel figure for D1 video (720 by 576). Modern cameras send far more detail, so expect to open fewer at once, or use the sub stream.
• Pictures and videos the software saves on your PC are kept for 62 days by default and can be kept for up to 365 days. Your recorder's own recordings are separate.

These are the steps in Dahua's SmartPSS Lite manual. The screens can differ a little between versions.

• 1. Run the installer. Dahua's manual calls it SmartPSSLite.exe. Pick a language, tick the box to agree to the software agreement, then click Next.
• 2. Click Browse to choose where to install it, then click Install.
• 3. Click Finish. Tick Run SmartPSSLite to start it straight away.
• 4. Click Agree and Continue to accept the Software License Agreement and the Product Privacy Policy.
• 5. On the Initialization page, set a password and click Next. The Auto Login after Registration box signs you in straight after setup.
• 6. Set the security questions and click Finish.

SmartPSS Lite has no default password. The first time you open it, it asks you to set a password and some security questions. This password protects the software on your PC. It is not your recorder's password.

The password must be 8 to 32 characters with no blanks, using at least two of these: capital letters, small letters, numbers and special characters. The characters ' " ; : and & are not allowed. If you forget it, click Forgot password? on the login page and answer the security questions you chose. The login page also has Remember Password and Auto Login boxes.

• The device's IP address, if the PC is on the same network. Or its serial number, if you want to add it by P2P. The serial number is on a label on the underside or side of the unit. It is also in the device's menu under Network, then P2P.
• The device's username and password. On devices with current firmware there is no default password. You set the admin password the first time you start the device. If the device has never been set up, see the initialise section below.
• For the serial number method, P2P switched on in the device (Network, then P2P) with the status showing Online.

Open Device Manager from the Home page. SmartPSS Lite gives you four ways to add a device, so pick the one that matches where the device is. After you add a device, the software logs in to it by itself. If the login works, the status shows online. If it fails, the status shows offline.

• Auto Search: best when the devices are on the same network as the PC and you do not know their addresses. Click Auto Search, set the network range, click Search, tick the devices, click Add, then enter their username and password and click OK. Dahua says to close ConfigTool and DSS first, or you may not find every device.
• Add by IP: best for one device with a known address or domain name. Click Add, choose IP as the method, then enter a name, the IP address, the port (37777 by default) and the username and password. Dahua suggests naming each device after the area it watches.
• Add by serial number: works from another network. Click Add, choose SN (For Device Support P2P), then enter the serial number, a name, and the username and password. The device's P2P status must say Online.
• Import a list: best for many devices that are not on the same network. Put their details in an .xml file and import it. To see the format, select a device and click Export first.

In SmartPSS Lite, open Home, then Monitor, then Live View. Double-click a device in the list to open all of its cameras. Dahua's datasheet lists live viewing in up to 64 windows, snapshots, and playback with play, pause, fast forward, rewind, full screen and backup.

If a picture is black, stutters or stays stuck, try the sub stream. It needs less bandwidth. Open System Config, then Monitor setting, and set Default Stream Type to Sub Stream. The other choices are Self-adaptive Stream Type and Main Stream.

To keep your setup safe, open System Config, then Backup and Restore. It saves the software's settings to your PC, by hand or automatically, and restores them from a file. Device Manager can also export the details of the devices you selected.

A new Dahua device may be uninitialised, which means nobody has set its password yet. SmartPSS Lite can do that for you, as long as the device is on the same network segment as your PC. The same screen changes IP addresses. Our Dahua ConfigTool guide covers the same jobs with Dahua's dedicated tool.

• 1. Click Device Manager, then Auto Search, set the network range and click Search.
• 2. Select the uninitialised device and click Initialization.
• 3. Type a password and confirm it. Dahua's guide asks for 8 to 32 characters with at least two of letters, numbers and special characters. The characters ' " ; : and & are not allowed. Write the password down and keep it safe.
• 4. Enter an email address. This is what lets you reset the password later.
• 5. Enter a new IP address, subnet mask and gateway, then click Finish. If you leave them empty, the device keeps the default values.
• To change the address of a device that is already set up, search again, select the device and click Modify IP. Enter the new IP address, subnet mask and gateway, click OK, then enter the device's username and password. To change several at once, the new address goes to the top device and the others count up by one, for example 192.168.1.10 then 192.168.1.11.

• Device shows offline: SmartPSS Lite logs in as soon as you add a device and shows offline if that login fails. Check the username and password first. Dahua says its account lock is on by default, and that a wrong password entered several times locks the account and the address you tried from. So stop after a few tries and check which password you are using.
• Offline when added by serial number: the device's P2P status must say Online (Network, then P2P). If DMSS on your phone also shows it offline, the device has probably lost its internet connection, not the PC.
• Auto Search finds nothing, or not everything: the PC has to be on the same network segment as the devices. Close ConfigTool and DSS, then search again.
• Devices on another network: add them by serial number, or import an .xml list.
• Forgot the software's password: click Forgot password? and answer your security questions.
• Forgot a device's password: Dahua says its devices support a reset through the email address and security questions that were set up in advance. If nobody set them up, ask your installer or Dahua support. Our ConfigTool guide covers the reset-file route.
• Too many cameras on one PC: one copy of the software is rated for 64 devices and 64 video channels.