Re-stream audio from SHOUTcast/Icecast in Wowza Streaming Engine

Use Wowza Streaming Engine™ media server software to re-stream SHOUTcast or Icecast audio streams with the MediaCaster feature for playback on all supported player technologies. 

Before you start


You should complete the following tasks:

1. Configure playback


Before connecting a live source and publishing a live stream, complete the following steps to configure playback support for your application.

  1. Click the Applications tab at the top of the page and then select your application in the contents panel.
  2. Click the Setup tab on your application's page and then click Edit.
  3. Under Playback Types, select any streaming protocols you need to support for playing streams sent to this application. The playback types enable transmuxing a source stream into MPEG-DASH, HLS, RTMP, and RTSP/RTP.
  4. Click Save.

  1. In the application's contents panel, click Playback Security, and then click Edit.


     
  2. Under Client restrictions, select No client restrictions to allow players to connect from any IP address.

  3. Click Save and then restart the application.

For more information about Playback Security options, see Playback security options.

2. Connect to a source stream


Next, create a .stream file 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 your application.
    2. In the Add Stream File dialog box, enter a name for the new stream file, enter Stream URI, and then click Add.



      The URL that you use to connect to a SHOUTcast or Icecast server is one of the URLs that's contained in a SHOUTcast playlist (.pls) file or Icecast (.m3u) playlist file. Most websites that publish SHOUTcast or Icecast streams have links that reference these files. To re-stream a SHOUTcast or Icecast stream, you must first download one of the playlist files to your local computer and then use one of the links found inside to connect to the published stream. Enter this link value in Stream URI.
  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 your application in Application Name and shoutcast in MediaCaster Type, and then click OK.


       
      Note: Use the shoutcast-record MediaCaster type for re-streaming while simultaneously recording the stream to a single file in the application's streaming file directory. For more information, see About recording MediaCaster streams.
    3. The Connection successful notification is displayed.

3. Verify the connection


To verify that Wowza Streaming Engine is receiving the published stream, complete the following steps in Wowza Streaming Engine Manager.

  1. Click Incoming Streams in the contents panel for your live application.

    You should see your stream listed with Active for the status.

  2. Click the stream name to see the uptime, network throughput, and other information about the published stream.

4. Test playback


  1. In Wowza Streaming Engine Manager, in the contents panel for your application, click Stream Files.
  2. In the Stream Files list, click the name of your stream file.
  3. From your stream file's page, click Test Playback.
  4. Review and, if needed, edit the following information in the Test Playback window for your stream:
     
    • Server – The IP address or domain name of the server and the streaming port ([address]:[port]).

    Note: The stream name should include the .stream file extension.
  5. (Optional) In the Streaming URLs section, select Secure URL for the streaming protocol you want to use to test playback if you have configured SSL/TLS for streaming over https, rtmps, or rtsps.
  6. Click the Copy icon for the streaming protocol you want to use to test playback.
  7. Paste the playback URL into your player or a mobile browser depending on the protocol. Alternatively, you can use the Wowza Video Test Players webpage.

For more information about playback URLs, see About playing Wowza Streaming Engine streams.

Next steps


More resources