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

Originally Published on 06/16/2015 | Updated on 10/11/2018 5:53 pm PDT

Learn how to re-stream an Adobe Media Server stream that supports H.264 and AAC through Wowza Streaming Engine™ media server software. Use this tutorial to set up an application named live to stream live content to Adobe Flash Player, Microsoft Silverlight player, Apple iOS devices, and RTSP/RTP-based players.

Tutorial

Configuration

This section provides the basic steps for 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,smoothstreaming,sanjosestreaming</HTTPStreamers>
    3. Set the Streams/LiveStreamPacketizers property to: 
      <LiveStreamPacketizers>cupertinostreamingpacketizer,smoothstreamingpacketizer,sanjosestreamingpacketizer</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>

Publishing the stream

This section provides the basic steps for creating a .stream file to publish your live stream to Wowza Streaming Engine.
 
  1. Use a text editor to create the file [install-dir]/content/rtmp.stream and set the contents of this file to the full RTMP URL of the stream that you want to re-stream (for example: rtmp://cp12345.live.edgefcs.net/live/myStream@2440). The file must have a .stream filename extension.
     
  2. Using a text editor, edit the file [install-dir]/conf/admin.password and add a username and password that will be used to start and stop the publishing of the stream (below is an example of the file with the username myuser and password mypassword): 
    # Admin password file (format [username][space][password])
# username password
myuser mypassword
  3. Start Wowza Streaming Engine.
     
  4. Start the stream:
     
    1. Enter the following URL in a web browser:
      URL: http://[wowza-ip-address]:8086/streammanager
    2. In the Security dialog box, enter your admin username and password from above.
       
    3. In the Stream Manager webpage, click the [start-receiving-stream] link just below the live application folder.
       
    4. In the Start Receiving Stream dialog box, select the following MediaCaster Type option: liverepeater
       
    5. In the Stream Name field, enter rtmp.stream.
       
    6. Click OK.

Playback

Note: In the following examples, [wowza-ip-address] is the IP address or domain name of the Wowza Streaming Engine server.

Adobe Flash Player (RTMP)

Double-click [install-dir]/examples/LiveVideoStreaming/FlashRTMPPlayer/player.html, enter the information below, and then click the Connect button.
 
Server: rtmp://[wowza-ip-address]/live
Stream: rtmp.stream

To play the stream from a remote computer, copy the FlashRTMPPlayer folder to a web server, and then connect to: http://<webserver>/FlashRTMPPlayer/player.html.
 
Note: If your application will only stream to Flash RTMP clients, see Flash RTMP clients only.

Adobe Flash Player (San Jose/Adobe HDS)

Double-click [install-dir]/examples/LiveVideoStreaming/FlashHTTPPlayer/player.html, enter the information below, and then click the Connect button.
 
Stream: http://[wowza-ip-address]:1935/live/rtmp.stream/manifest.f4m

To play the stream from a remote computer, copy the FlashHTTPPlayer folder to a web server, and then connect to: http://<webserver>/FlashHTTPPlayer/player.html.
 
Note: The stream can only be played from an OSMF-based Flash player that's embedded in a webpage.

Apple iOS device (Cupertino/Apple HLS)

Enter the following URL into the Safari web browser on the device:
 
URL: http://[wowza-ip-address]:1935/live/rtmp.stream/playlist.m3u8
 
Notes:
  • The Apple iPhone 3GS (and older) and iPod touch devices require that video be encoded using H.264 format (Baseline profile level 3 or lower) and AAC or MP3 stereo audio. iPhone 3GS and newer devices support Baseline profile. For encoding guidance for playback on Apple iOS devices, see How to find Apple iOS device supported profile and level information.
     
  • This stream can also be played by using the Safari web browser or QuickTime 10.x on a computer that's running OS X Snow Leopard version 10.6 and later.

Microsoft Silverlight (Smooth Streaming)

Double-click [install-dir]/examples/LiveVideoStreaming/SilverlightPlayer/player.html, enter the information below, and then click the Connect button.
 
Stream: http://[wowza-ip-address]:1935/live/rtmp.stream/Manifest

To play the stream from a remote computer, copy the SilverlightPlayer folder to a web server, and then connect to: http://<webserver>/SilverlightPlayer/player.html.
 
Note: The Silverlight player requires that both audio and video be present for playback. For live streaming only, the keyframe frequency (which can be set directly in some encoders or is gop/fps) must be between 1 and 4 seconds (2 seconds is recommended). Anything greater than 4 seconds may cause playback to freeze.

RTSP/RTP player

Enter the following URL into the RTSP/RTP player:
 
URL: rtsp://[wowza-ip-address]:1935/live/rtmp.stream

Flash RTMP clients only

(Optional) If your application will only stream to Flash RTMP clients, in [install-dir]/conf/live/Application.xml, you can set the Streams/StreamType property to: 
<StreamType>liverepeater-edge</StreamType>
If you do this, then you won't need to use StreamManager (see Publishing the stream). The first Flash client that plays the stream will trigger Wowza Media Server to start re-streaming.

Also, in [install-dir]/conf/live/Application.xml, make sure that the Streams/LiveStreamPacketizers property is empty: 
<LiveStreamPacketizers></LiveStreamPacketizers>

Troubleshooting

RTSP/RTP

  • RTSP/RTP streaming is used to stream to Android and BlackBerry mobile devices. Newer Android-based phones also support Adobe Flash Player 10.1 and later, along with RTMP and Adobe HTTP Dynamic Streaming (Adobe HDS).
  • To stream to RTSP/RTP, be sure that UDP ports 0-65535 are open and properly mapped to the server running Wowza Media Server.
  • It's very important to carefully follow the instructions provided in How to troubleshoot RTSP/RTP playback to properly configure Wowza Media Server for RTSP/RTP streaming.

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:
 
SDP file missing: c:/program files/wowzamediasystems/wowzamediaserver[version]/content/rtmp.stream

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 How to generate and control MPEG-TS output for set-top boxes.

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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