The Wowza Streaming Cloud™ service allows you to secure HLS streams using the external method of AES-128 encryption. When you use the external method of AES-128 encryption, encryption keys are delivered to devices from an external URL. This article describes how to use the Wowza Streaming Cloud REST API to configure AES-128 encryption for an HLS stream.
Configure AES-128 encryption
- Using the Wowza Streaming Cloud REST API, do one of the following:
- Create a live stream. For instructions, see Get started broadcasting a live stream using the Wowza Streaming Cloud REST API.
- Create a transcoder and add output renditions. For instructions, see the following articles:
- Configure the following transcoder properties to enable AES encryption:
AES transcoder properties
Section Key Value Description cupertino aes128Host string Specifies the URL that devices will use to fetch the key to decrypt the stream. cupertino aes128Secret string Specifies the 16-byte key that will be used to decrypt the stream. The key must be 32 characters in length and can only contain hex characters (a-z, A-Z, 0-9). The key must match the key returned by the aes128Host. Notes:
- To authenticate API requests, use HMAC authentication for production environments. For testing or proof of concept purposes only, use API key and access key authentication.
- The curl examples below use environment variables. See Using cURL for more information on how to set these up.
Configure the aes128Host:
curl -X POST \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -H "wsc-api-key: ${WSC_API_KEY}" \ -H "wsc-access-key: ${WSC_ACCESS_KEY}" \ -d '{ "property": { "key": "aes128Host", "section": "cupertino", "value": "https://[server-url].com/aes128/key.bin" } }' "${WSC_HOST}/api/${WSC_VERSION}/transcoders/[transcoder_id]/properties"The request updates the aes128Host property for the transcoder. The details of the transcoder property are listed in the response, which should look something like this:
{ "property": { "key": "aes128Host", "section": "cupertino", "value": "https://[server-url].com/aes128/key.bin" } }Configure the aes128Secret:
curl -X POST \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -H "wsc-api-key: ${WSC_API_KEY}" \ -H "wsc-access-key: ${WSC_ACCESS_KEY}" \ -d '{ "property": { "key": "aes128Secret", "section": "cupertino", "value": "B1C014C12TPL031DEVL91345GI8211DD" } }' "${WSC_HOST}/api/${WSC_VERSION}/transcoders/[transcoder_id]/properties"The request updates the aes128Secret property for the transcoder. The details of the transcoder property are listed in the response, which should look something like this:
{ "property": { "key": "aes128Secret", "section": "cupertino", "value": "B1C014C12TPL031DEVL91345GI8211DD" } }
Note: If you have started a transcoder at any point before updating its transcoder property, you must reset the transcoder for the property to take effect. This step isn’t necessary if you haven’t started the transcoder at all.
Reset a transcoder
curl -X PUT \ -H "wsc-api-key: ${WSC_API_KEY}" \ -H "wsc-access-key: ${WSC_ACCESS_KEY}" \ "${WSC_HOST}/api/${WSC_VERSION}/transcoders/[transcoder_id]/reset"
Examples
The following examples show how to use popular web application technologies such as ASP.NET, JSP, and PHP to send the key data. Each example includes a Boolean isValid value that defaults to true. You can modify the examples to provide your own security tests to validate that users can access the content. If users shouldn't be allowed to access the content, you can block them from receiving the decryption key by setting isValid to false.
If the request for the key returns a status of 403, then the device won't be able to decrypt and play the stream. If the key is returned, then the stream will be decrypted and played. Require HTTPS access to this key to ensure that it isn't sent over an unsecured connection on the Internet.
The key being sent in these examples is DE51A7254739C0EDF1DCE13BBB308FF0. You should substitute this value with a different 16-byte key. The key should match the key value specified for the aes128Secret transcoder property.
ASP.NET example
<%@ Page Language="C#" %>
<%
Boolean isValid = true;
if (!isValid)
{
Response.Status = "403 Forbidden";
}
else
{
Response.AddHeader("Content-Type", "binary/octet-stream");
Response.AddHeader("Pragma", "nocache");
String keyStr = "DE51A7254739C0EDF1DCE13BBB308FF0";
int len = keyStr.Length/2;
byte[] keyBuffer = new byte[len];
for (int i=0;i<len;i++)
keyBuffer[i] = Convert.ToByte(keyStr.Substring(i*2, 2), 16);
Response.BinaryWrite(keyBuffer);
Response.Flush();
Response.End();
}
%>
JSP example
<%@ page import="java.util.*,java.io.*" %>
<%
boolean isValid = true;
if (!isValid)
{
response.setStatus( 403 );
}
else
{
response.setHeader("Content-Type", "binary/octet-stream");
response.setHeader("Pragma", "no-cache");
String keyStr = "DE51A7254739C0EDF1DCE13BBB308FF0";
int len = keyStr.length()/2;
byte[] keyBuffer = new byte[len];
for (int i=0;i<len;i++)
keyBuffer[i] = (byte)Integer.parseInt(keyStr.substring(i*2, (i*2)+2), 16);
OutputStream outs = response.getOutputStream();
outs.write(keyBuffer);
outs.flush();
}
%>
PHP example
<?php
// Check if function exists (php5.4+ includes this method)
if(!function_exists("hex2bin")){
function hex2bin($h)
{
if (!is_string($h))
return null;
$r = '';
for ($a=0;$a<strlen($h);$a+=2)
{
$r .= chr(hexdec($h{$a}.$h{($a+1)}));
}
return $r;
}
}
$isValid = true;
if (! $isValid)
{
header('HTTP/1.0 403 Forbidden');
}
else
{
header('Content-Type: binary/octet-stream');
header('Pragma: no-cache');
echo hex2bin('DE51A7254739C0EDF1DCE13BBB308FF0');
exit(); // this is needed to ensure cr/lf is not added to output
}
?>
