A QUE Satellite is a record of one machine, and that record goes out of date the moment the machine changes. Install a font, rename the computer or retire it, and QUE is still describing the old situation. Two actions fix that from Templater, Sync to QUE and Remove from QUE, and a third route in the QUE Dash exists for when the machine is out of reach.
This page is for the person who runs a rendering machine for QUE and needs to keep it honest. A producer with a small render fleet, a developer who owns the pipeline, an IT contact who just reimaged a workstation. We will cover what a Satellite profile holds, how to sync it after a change, how to remove a Satellite from either side, and the one rule that decides whether you can add the machine back afterward.
What a Satellite profile holds, and why it goes stale
Satellites are the machines that process your Jobs and create output. You add one from the Templater plugin. When Templater adds a Satellite, it first profiles the host machine and then sends that profile to QUE. The profile covers hardware and the software needed to render your Jobs. Our documentation gives examples: Templater’s output path, its version number, the machine’s operating system, its root drive capacity, the amount of installed RAM, and a list of all installed fonts and effects.
You can read the profile in the QUE Dash. Open the Satellites view and expand a Satellite. The properties are grouped. Host Information describes the machine: its name, the logged-in user, external and internal IP addresses, operating system, installed RAM, CPU type, drive capacity and fonts. Satellite Engine Info describes the software: the authoring application and its version, the Templater version, the data feed URL, the processing scope, the output mode, the output naming scheme, the output root, the footage root and the installed effects. The fonts and effects lists each have a See All link, so you can read the whole list.
Satellite Profile Contents
What a Satellite profile holds
| Property | Profile group | Example value |
|---|---|---|
| Machine name & RAM | Host Information | Logged-in user, installed RAM, CPU type |
| IP addresses & OS | Host Information | External and internal IP addresses, operating system |
| Fonts & drive capacity | Host Information | List of all installed fonts, root drive capacity |
| Authoring app & Templater version | Satellite Engine Info | Authoring application and its version, Templater version number |
| Output & footage paths | Satellite Engine Info | Output root, footage root, output naming scheme |
Why does this matter? Because a Satellite can only render a Job properly when it has the Job’s Autograf installed along with its dependencies, such as fonts and effects. Our documentation says this directly. If you install a new font on a render machine so that a template will draw correctly, QUE’s copy of the profile does not know about it until you tell it. The profile is a snapshot. It does not follow the machine around.
The same logic applies to the machine’s name. A Satellite is given the same name as the host machine that adds it to QUE. Our documentation says that to change the name of a Satellite, you first rename the host machine and then sync the machine profile to the Satellite. There is no separate rename field to edit. The machine is the source of truth, and the sync is how QUE catches up.
A few of the profile values map to settings you already control in Templater. Processing Scope corresponds to the checkbox named This Satellite processes Jobs from all Campaigns in the QUE Configuration dialog. Output Naming corresponds to the choice under Output Naming in that same dialog. Output Root corresponds to the Destination field under Output Options in the main panel, and Footage Root corresponds to the Footage field under Batch Assets. So when a path on the machine changes, the profile shown in QUE changes only once you sync.
How to sync a machine profile to its Satellite
Use this after you install a font or an effect, or change the machine’s name. Our documentation gives the steps. Run them on the machine itself, because Templater has to inspect that machine.
- In Templater’s main panel, click Preferences.
- In the Templater Preferences dialog, in the Data Source group, click QUE Configuration. Templater must already be authorized to access your QUE account, or this dialog will not open.
- In the Machine Profile panel, paste your QUE account’s Organization Key into its field and click Load Profile. Wait while Templater creates a profile of the machine.
- When it finishes, the panel shows the current properties and values Templater gathered. If a corresponding Satellite is found, its data appears in the QUE Satellite Information pane.
- Click Sync to QUE and wait for Templater to update the Satellite. Then refresh the Satellites view in the QUE Dash, expand the Satellite and read the updated profile.
Sync Machine Profile
How to sync after a machine changes
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Click PreferencesIn Templater’s main panel, click Preferences.
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Open QUE ConfigurationIn the Templater Preferences dialog, in the Data Source group, click QUE Configuration.
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Load ProfilePaste your QUE account’s Organization Key into its field and click Load Profile.
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Confirm Satellite foundWhen it finishes, the panel shows the current properties and values Templater gathered.
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Click Sync to QUEClick Sync to QUE and wait for Templater to update the Satellite.
Step four is the part to look at with some care. The QUE Satellite Information pane is how you confirm that Templater found a Satellite that matches this machine. If the pane stays empty after Load Profile, our troubleshooting documentation names two causes. Templater cannot find a Satellite in QUE that matches the machine profile, or Templater’s security token has expired and cannot be refreshed. For the first, try Add to QUE and then Load Profile again. For the second, sign out of QUE, sign back in to authorize Templater, and try again. Our troubleshooting guide for QUE Satellites covers those and the other failure patterns in more detail, so we will not repeat them all here.
There is one more thing worth saying about timing. A sync changes the profile, not the Jobs. Nothing in our documentation says that a sync reassigns work or restarts anything. If you are about to change a machine and a batch is processing on it, finish the batch before you sync and test with one Job afterward. That is general practice, not a documented rule, but it costs nothing to follow.
One practical habit follows from all this. After any sync, compare the fonts and effects shown in the Dash against what your Autografs depend on. Each Autograf’s manifest lists the fonts and effects it needs, and our documentation says you may have to install and activate specific fonts and effects on each Satellite so an Autograf processes without dependency errors. A sync only makes QUE’s view of the machine accurate. It does not install anything. If a font is missing from the list, the sync did its job and the machine is still missing the font.
How to remove a Satellite, and which route to take
Removing a Satellite deletes it from QUE and stops the associated machine from reaching any of your QUE data. You do this when you retire a machine, when someone leaves and their laptop was a Satellite, or when a name collision means you need to start over. Before you do it, read the warning in our documentation. When you remove a Satellite, every Job assigned to it will not be processed until it is reassigned to a different, authorized Satellite. In the Satellite troubleshooting documentation the wording is that those Jobs become unassigned. Either way, the Jobs stop moving until you act.
That warning changes the order of operations. Reassign first if you can, then remove. QUE does not load balance Jobs for you, so a Job sitting on a deleted Satellite does not drift to another machine by itself. Our post on how QUE assigns Jobs to machines explains that behavior. The target Satellite also has to be ready for the work. It needs the Autograf and its fonts and effects, so check its profile before you move anything onto it.
Before You Remove
Do these before removing a Satellite
- Reassign Jobs from the Satellite to a different, authorized Satellite
- Confirm the target Satellite has the Autograf plus its fonts and effects installed
- Check the target Satellite’s profile in the QUE Dash before moving work onto it
- If removing from the Dash, plan to clear the machine profile with Templater before re-adding it
Remove from Templater, the preferred route
Our documentation calls this best practice and explains why: it clears both QUE and the host machine of any security tokens. That is the clean outcome, since the machine itself no longer holds access.
- In Templater’s main panel, click Preferences, then in the Data Source group click QUE Configuration.
- In the Machine Profile pane, click Load Profile. Templater inspects the machine to generate a current profile and tries to retrieve any Satellite data tied to that profile from QUE. Whatever it finds is shown in the QUE Satellite Information pane.
- Click Remove from QUE and confirm.
On confirmation the Satellite is deleted from QUE. The machine can no longer access any of its data until it is added as a Satellite again. If the Remove from QUE button does not work, our troubleshooting table gives two causes. The Satellite may already have been removed from the QUE Dash before you tried Templater, or the security token may have expired. A Satellite must exist in QUE before Templater can remove it. If the Add to QUE button is disabled, click Clear Profile and try again. For an expired token, sign out and in again.
Remove from the QUE Dash, when you cannot reach the machine
Sometimes the machine is gone. It was wiped, shipped back or left with an employee who moved on. The Dash route exists for that case. Choose the Satellites view from the main navigation, expand the Satellite you want to remove, click the Delete icon and confirm. The Satellite is deleted and its machine can no longer access its data.
Our documentation attaches a warning to this route, and it is the single most useful fact on this page. When you remove a Satellite from the Dash, you must clear the associated machine’s profile using Templater before you can re-add that machine as a Satellite. Clearing is a separate act from removing. The Dash deletes the QUE side. The machine still holds a profile from its earlier registration, and Templater’s Clear Profile button removes that trace. The same documentation says Templater’s best-practice removal clears security tokens from both sides, so a Dash removal leaves one side to clean up later.
This also explains a failed add. If Add to QUE fails because a Satellite with the same name already exists, our documentation says each Satellite in your organization must be uniquely named. You may need to delete the conflicting Satellite from the Dash before adding from Templater, and you may need to clear the machine profile with Templater too. Those are the two halves of the same cleanup.
A worked example and the limits of these actions
Here is a hypothetical, labeled as such. A small studio has two Satellites, an editing workstation and a dedicated render Mac. The studio replaces the render Mac with a new machine given the same name. The old machine is wiped and sold before anyone removes it from QUE.
With the old machine gone, Templater cannot reach it, so the studio uses the Dash route. They open the Satellites view, expand the old Satellite and delete it. Before that, they reassign its queued Jobs to the editing workstation, since the documentation says unassigned Jobs will not process. On the new Mac they install Templater, authorize it, open QUE Configuration and click Load Profile. The Add to QUE button might still refuse them if any trace of the earlier registration remained, so they click Clear Profile first, load the profile again and add the machine. A month later a designer installs a new font on that Mac. The studio runs the sync steps above so the profile shows the font.
Now the limits, and some of them are real. Sync, remove and clear all run through the QUE Configuration dialog, which needs Templater and an authorized QUE account on the machine in question. Our documentation describes syncing a profile only from Templater, so plan on being at the machine. Your plan also limits how many Satellites can be associated with the account, and our documentation lists reaching that limit as one reason an add can fail. Remove only machines you are sure you are finished with. If you want more machines, our documentation says you can purchase more Satellite slots for your QUE Plan.
The documentation does not say how long a Dash removal takes to appear in Templater, or what a machine shows while it still holds an old profile. It also does not describe what Jobs in process do on the moment of removal beyond the warning above. If that matters to your pipeline, test with one machine and a small Campaign before you touch a production Satellite. For the broader flow of adding a machine, see what a QUE Satellite is and how to add one. For housekeeping on the Campaign side, running a QUE Campaign from code covers cleanup done through the API, and QUE and Templater: how they work together shows where Satellites sit in the whole chain.
The bottom line is this. Sync when the machine changes and the Satellite should know. Remove from Templater when the machine is in your hands, because it clears tokens on both sides. Remove from the Dash when it is not, and then clear the profile with Templater before the machine returns. In either removal, reassign the Jobs first, since an unassigned Job just waits.
We covered the routes and the traps above. If you are about to remove a Satellite, these answers are worth a minute first.
Frequently Asked Questions
When should I sync a machine profile to its QUE Satellite?
Sync after you change the machine in a way QUE should know about. Our documentation gives two examples: installing a new font or effect, and changing the machine’s name. Open Preferences in Templater, go to QUE Configuration, paste your Organization Key, click Load Profile, then click Sync to QUE. Refresh the Satellites view in the QUE Dash and expand the Satellite to confirm the change appears.
How do I rename a QUE Satellite?
Rename the host machine first, then sync the machine profile to the Satellite. A Satellite takes the same name as the machine that added it to QUE, so the name comes from the machine. After the sync, refresh the Satellites view in the QUE Dash to see the new name. Keep names unique, because our documentation says each Satellite in your organization must have its own name.
Should I remove a Satellite from Templater or from the QUE Dash?
Use Templater when you can reach the machine. Our documentation calls it best practice because QUE and the host machine are both cleared of security tokens. Use the QUE Dash when you cannot access the machine, and expect to clear the machine’s profile with Templater later, before you add it back as a Satellite.
What happens to Jobs when I remove a Satellite?
Jobs assigned to the removed Satellite will not be processed until they are reassigned to a different, authorized Satellite. Our troubleshooting documentation says they become unassigned. QUE does not load balance Jobs between Satellites, so reassign them yourself before you remove the machine if you can. Make sure the new Satellite has the Autograf plus its fonts and effects installed.
Why can I not re-add a machine after deleting its Satellite in the Dash?
The Dash deletes only QUE’s side. Our documentation says you need to clear the machine’s profile with Templater before re-adding it as a Satellite. In QUE Configuration, click Clear Profile, then Load Profile, then Add to QUE. If a Satellite with the same name still exists, delete that one from the Dash first, since names must be unique.
What if the Remove from QUE button does not work?
Our troubleshooting table lists two causes. The Satellite may already have been removed in the QUE Dash, since a Satellite has to exist in QUE before Templater can remove it. Or Templater’s security token has expired. If Add to QUE is disabled, click Clear Profile and try again. For the token, sign out of QUE, sign back in to authorize Templater, and retry.
Does syncing a profile install fonts on the Satellite?
No. A sync reports what is installed on the machine to QUE. It does not install anything. A Satellite needs an Autograf’s fonts and effects installed and activated to process Jobs without dependency errors, so install them on the machine first, then run Load Profile and Sync to QUE so the Dash shows them.
