Create Live Streaming (RTMP) Server on Ubuntu 24.04

Introduction

In this guide, we will set up an Ubuntu 24.04 server to receive input from Open Broadcaster Software (OBS) and output it in HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) format. Additionally, we will integrate AWS CloudFront for content delivery (CDN) and assign sub-domains for seamless streaming.

For example:

• RTMP Link (Input): rtmp://live-in.example.com/live/stream
• Stream Key: stream
• HLS (Output): https://live.example.com/hls/stream.m3u8

1. Setup Docker to Ubuntu Server (EC2)

After launching your instance, we need to log in into our new server using SSH client.

ssh -i "YourKey.pem" ubuntu@SERVER_IP

After login, you need to update packages

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

Set Timezone (Asia/Kolkata):

sudo timedatectl set-timezone Asia/Kolkata && sudo timedatectl

Install Required Dependencies

sudo apt install -y ca-certificates curl gnupg

Add Docker’s Official GPG Key

sudo install -m 0755 -d /etc/apt/keyrings
curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg | sudo tee /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc > /dev/null
sudo chmod a+r /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc

Add Docker Repository

echo "deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc] https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu $(lsb_release -cs) stable" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list > /dev/null

Install Docker

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-buildx-plugin docker-compose-plugin

Verify Docker Installation

sudo systemctl enable --now docker
sudo docker --version

Run Docker Without sudo (Optional)

sudo usermod -aG docker $USER
newgrp docker

Test Docker

docker run hello-world

2. Run the nginx-live-stream Docker Image

To start the Nginx Live Stream server, follow the steps below:

Pull the Docker image:

docker pull sannjayy/nginx-live-stream:latest

For more information about the Docker image, click here.

Run the Docker container

# Run in CLI
docker run -p 1935:1935 -p 8080:8080 sannjayy/nginx-live-stream

# Run in Detached Mode
docker run -d -p 1935:1935 -p 8080:8080 sannjayy/nginx-live-stream:latest

3. Start Streaming

Using ffmpeg:

To start streaming using ffmpeg, execute the command below:

ffmpeg -re -i video.mp4 -c:v libx264 -preset veryfast -maxrate 3000k -bufsize 6000k -pix_fmt yuv420p -g 50 -c:a aac -b:a 160k -ar 44100 -f flv rtmp://SERVER-IP:1935/live/test

Rename the video.mp4 and replace SERVER-IP with your server's IP address.

Testing the video feed Embedded Player

To access the embedded player, navigate to the following URL in your browser:

http://SERVER-IP:8080/player/?url=http://SERVER-IP:8080/hls/test.m3u8

4. Setup CloudFront for content delivery (CDN)

Create distribution

Origin domain

• Public IPv4 DNS of the EC2 Instance

Protocol

• HTTP Only
• 8080

Enable Origin Shield

• No

Compress objects automatically

• No

Viewer protocol policy

• HTTP and HTTPS

Allowed HTTP methods

• GET, HEAD

Restrict viewer access

• No

Cache key and origin requests

Legacy cache settings

• Headers: None
• Query strings: None
• Cookies: None

Object caching

• Customize
• Minimum TTL: 0
• Maximum TTL: 0
• Default TTL: 0

---

Your setup is now complete. You have successfully configured an Ubuntu 24.04 server to receive input from Open Broadcaster Software (OBS) and output it in HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) format. Additionally, you have integrated AWS CloudFront for content delivery (CDN) and assigned sub-domains for seamless streaming.

5. Custom Domain Setup (Optional)

In your DNS Server (Route 53 or Cloudflare) add these records.

Your custom domain setup is now complete. You can access your streaming server using your custom domain (e.g., https://live.example.com/hls/stream.m3u8).

Troubleshoot

Before starting, ensure that the following inbound rules are allowed in your firewall settings:

• Custom TCP 8080
• Custom TCP 1935
• TCP 22 for SSH access