Start and stop Wowza Streaming Engine

Learn how to run Wowza Streaming Engine™ (WSE) media server software and WSE Manager as a system service or in standalone mode.

By default, WSE and WSE Manager install as system services, meaning WSE is active from the moment of install and any time the host computer is on. System services start automatically when you start the a server and remain on until you turn them off. Standalone mode operates independently of the operating system—starting and stopping on demand. If you fail to quit the program, you will be prompted to do so when you turn off the computer.  Standalone mode is also useful for testing because you can see log output in the console immediately.

You can manually start and stop WSE at any time in either operational mode. (For example, a WSE subscription license holder may want to turn off the software to avoid being charged for inactive instances.)

Start and stop WSE

Windows

WSE as a service

Start

1. Press WIN key + R, type services.msc in the Run dialog box, and then click OK.
    
2. In the Services window, right-click Wowza Streaming Engine 4.11.2+6 and then click Start.

Stop

1. Press WIN key + R, type services.msc in the Run dialog box, and then click OK.
    
2. In the Services window, right-click Wowza Streaming Engine 4.11.2+6 and then click Stop.

Standalone mode

Start

To start the software, make sure the Wowza Streaming Engine service is stopped and then do the following:

1. Press WIN key + R, type cmd in the Run dialog box, and then press Control + Shift + Enter to open the command prompt as an administrator.
2. In the Command Prompt window, execute the following commands:

   cd %WMSAPP_HOME%\bin
   startup.bat

Stop

1. Press WIN key + R, type cmd in the Run dialog box, and then press Enter.
    
2. In the Command Prompt window, execute the following commands:

   cd %WMSAPP_HOME%\bin
   shutdown.bat

Linux

WSE as a service

Note: The operations in this section must be performed as the root user with sudo access.

Start

To start the service, open a Terminal window and enter one of the following commands, depending on your Linux distribution:

sudo systemctl start WowzaStreamingEngine

/etc/init.d/WowzaStreamingEngine start

Stop

To stop the service, enter:

sudo systemctl stop WowzaStreamingEngine

/etc/init.d/WowzaStreamingEngine stop

Note: The Linux services script subsystem doesn't use the full $PATH definition to determine the location of Linux commands. It uses what's known as the init path. This can lead to an issue on Linux distributions where the default installation location for Java can't be found by applying the init path. See Manually install and troubleshoot Java on Wowza Streaming Engine.

Standalone mode

Note: The operations in this section must be performed as the root user with sudo access.

Start

To start the software, open a Terminal window and enter the following commands:

cd /usr/local/WowzaStreamingEngine/bin
sudo ./startup.sh

Stop

To stop the software, enter:

cd /usr/local/WowzaStreamingEngine/bin
sudo ./shutdown.sh

Verify WSE is running

To verify that the Wowza Streaming Engine software is running, open a browser and enter the following URL:

Where [wowza-ip-address] is the IP address or domain name of the local or remote Wowza media server. It should return the Wowza Streaming Engine version number. If not, make sure that the server is running and that TCP port 1935 is open on your router, firewall, and/or software firewall (iptables on Linux).

Start and stop WSE Manager

Note: Wowza Streaming Engine server software must be started to use Wowza Streaming Engine Manager.

Windows

WSE Manager as a service

Start

1. Press WIN key + R, type services.msc in the Run dialog box, and then click OK.
    
2. In the Services window, right-click Wowza Streaming Engine Manager 4.11.2+6 and then click Start.

Stop

1. Press WIN key + R, type services.msc in the Run dialog box, and then click OK.
    
2. In the Services window, right-click Wowza Streaming Engine Manager 4.11.2+6 and then click Stop.

Standalone mode

Start

To start Wowza Streaming Engine Manager in standalone mode, make sure that the manager service is stopped and then do the following:

1. Press WIN key + R, type cmd in the Run dialog box, and then press Enter.
    
2. In the Command Prompt window, execute the following commands:
   

   cd %WMSAPP_HOME%\manager\bin
   startmgr.bat

Stop

1. Press WIN key + R, type cmd in the Run dialog box, and then press Enter.
    
2. In the Command Prompt window, execute the following commands:
   

   cd %WMSAPP_HOME%\manager\bin
   shutdownmgr.bat

Linux

WSE Manager as a service 

Note: The operations in this section must be performed as the root user with sudo access.

Start

To start the service, enter one of the following commands, depending on your Linux distribution:

sudo systemctl start WowzaStreamingEngineManager

/etc/init.d/WowzaStreamingEngineManager start

Stop

To stop the service, enter:

sudo systemctl stop WowzaStreamingEngineManager

/etc/init.d/WowzaStreamingEngineManager stop

Note: If these instructions don't apply to your Linux distribution, consult your Linux manual.

Standalone mode 

Start

To start Wowza Streaming Engine Manager in standalone mode, open a Terminal window and enter the following commands:

cd /usr/local/WowzaStreamingEngine/manager/bin
./startmgr.sh

Stop

To stop Wowza Streaming Engine Manager, enter:

cd /usr/local/WowzaStreamingEngine/manager/bin
./shutdownmgr.sh