Re-stream an unprotected stream from Adobe Media Server or a CDN with Wowza Streaming Engine

Re-stream an Adobe Media Server stream that supports H.264 and AAC through the Wowza Streaming Engine™ media server software MediaCaster feature. Use this tutorial to set up an application named live to stream live content to Apple iOS devices and RTSP/RTP-based players.

Configure an application in XML

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Start by setting up an application for live streaming and configuring Application.xml.
 

1. Create application folder [install-dir]/applications/live.
    
2. Create configuration folder [install-dir]/conf/live and copy [install-dir]/conf/Application.xml to this new folder.
    
3. Edit the newly copied Application.xml file and make the following changes (some of these settings may already be present):
    
   1. Set the Streams/StreamType property to:

      <StreamType>live</StreamType>

   2. Set the HTTPStreamers property to:

      <HTTPStreamers>cupertinostreaming</HTTPStreamers>

   3. Set the Streams/LiveStreamPacketizers property to:

      <LiveStreamPacketizers>cupertinostreamingpacketizer</LiveStreamPacketizers>

   4. Set the RTP/Authentication/PlayMethod property to:

      <PlayMethod>none</PlayMethod>

   5. Add the following property to the MediaCaster/Properties container (be sure to get the correct <Properties> container, there are several in the Application.xml file):

      <Property>
          <Name>callFCSubscribe</Name>
          <Value>true</Value>
          <Type>Boolean</Type>
      </Property>

Publish the stream using a .stream file in Wowza Streaming Engine Manager

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Next, create a .stream file in Wowza Streaming Engine Manager to publish your stream to Wowza Streaming Engine using the MediaCaster (re-streaming) feature.
 

1. Create the .stream file:
    
   1. In the Server contents panel, click Stream Files, and then click Add Stream File.
      
      
       

      Note: You can also start the procedure to create a .stream file in the Applications contents panel for the live application.

   2. In the Add Stream File dialog box, enter a name for the new stream file and enter a Stream URI. The URI should be the full RTMP URL of the stream that you want to re-stream, for example, rtmp://cp12345.live.edgefcs.net/live/myStream@2440.
   3. Click Add.
2. Start the stream:
   1. In the Server contents panel, click Stream Files, and then click the Connect icon for the stream file you created in step 1.
       
   2. In the Connect a Stream File dialog box, select live in Application Name and liverepeater in MediaCaster Type, and then click OK.

Playback

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Apple iOS device (Cupertino/Apple HLS)

Enter the following URL into the Safari web browser:

http://[address]:1935/live/rtmp.stream/playlist.m3u8

RTSP/RTP player

Enter the following URL into the RTSP/RTP player:

rtsp://[address]:1935/live/rtmp.stream

Troubleshooting

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RTSP/RTP

To stream to RTSP/RTP, be sure that UDP ports 0 to 65535 are open and properly mapped to the server running Wowza Streaming Engine. For more information, see Troubleshoot RTSP/RTP playback from Wowza Streaming Engine.

Common problems with .stream files

Many text editors will append a .txt filename extension to the rtmp.stream filename. This will result in an error message similar to the following:
 
To fix this, go to the [install-dir]/content folder and remove the .txt filename extension from the file.

Property to force output to MPEG-TS (set-top box)

When streaming out using RTSP/RTP, you can force the output to MPEG-TS, which is required by many set-top boxes. For more information, see Generate and control MPEG-TS output for set-top boxes in Wowza Streaming Engine.

Property to change AAC packetization method

Wowza Streaming Engine can use the mpeg4-generic and mp4a-latm (3gpp) packetization methods to output AAC audio. The default packetization method is mpeg4-generic.

Wowza Streaming Engine Manager configuration

To switch to mp4a-latm (3gpp), do the following:
 

1. In Wowza Streaming Engine Manager, click the Applications tab and then click the name of your live application (such as live) in the contents panel.
    
2. On the live application page Properties tab, click Custom in the Quick Links bar or scroll to the bottom of the page.
    

   Note: Access to the Properties tab is limited to administrators with advanced permissions. For more information, see Manage credentials.

3. In the Custom area, click Edit.
    
4. Click Add Custom Property, specify the following settings in the Add Custom Property dialog box, and then click Add:
    
   • Path: Select /Root/Application/RTP.
      
   • Name: Enter audioPacketizerAAC.
      
   • Type: Select String.
      
   • Value: Enter com.wowza.wms.rtp.packetizer.RTPPacketizerMPEG4LATM.
5. Click Save, and then restart the live application to apply the changes.

XML configuration

To switch to mp4a-latm (3gpp):
 

1. Use a text editor to open the [install-dir]/conf/[application]/Application.xml file for your live application and add the following property to the RTP/Properties container. Be sure to add the property to the correct <Properties> container in Application.xml as there are several such containers in the file.

   <Property>
       <Name>audioPacketizerAAC</Name>
       <Value>com.wowza.wms.rtp.packetizer.RTPPacketizerMPEG4LATM</Value>
   </Property>

2. Restart Wowza Streaming Engine to apply the changes.

More resources

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• Troubleshoot RTSP/RTP playback from Wowza Streaming Engine
• Set up an application for RTSP/RTP streaming with Wowza Streaming Engine
• Configure VideoLAN VLC to play RTSP/RTP streams from Wowza Streaming Engine