Wowza Media Systems™ regularly releases Wowza Streaming Engine™ media server software builds with new features and functionality. You can install the software on your computer using an installer, or if you already have Wowza Streaming Engine installed, you can update it with a build updater.
Note: If you have problems with or want to provide feedback about our software updates, contact Wowza Technical Support. To learn about the variety of support resources that we offer to our user community, see our Support Resources webpage.Wowza Streaming Engine software releases
Latest production release
Latest beta releases
Wowza Streaming Engine software releases
Wowza Streaming Engine currently has the following types of software updates:
- Production – Long-term supported builds with new features and bug fixes and full regression and performance testing for use in production environments.
- Patch – Between production releases, Wowza occasionally provides patch releases to fix bugs or regressions in the latest production release, which can be deployed in production environments for long-term stability. Patches undergo varying degrees of regression and performance testing, but generally not as much as a long-term supported production build.
- Beta – For early access to new features and improvements being developed, Wowza also provides betas between production releases. Although the improvements and enhancements have been tested by QA, full regression testing and performance testing hasn't been performed on beta builds, and they should only be used in testing environments. Support for beta builds is fully available, but there is no guarantee of hotfixes.
Latest production release
- Latest updater: Wowza Streaming Engine 4.8.9 build 20201221171606 released on January 12, 2021. For a complete list of changes in this build, see the Wowza Streaming Engine 4.8.9 Release Notes.
- Latest installer: Wowza Streaming Engine 4.8.8.01 build 20201216140014 released on December 17, 2020. For a complete list of changes in this build, see the Wowza Streaming Engine 4.8.8.01 Release Notes.
New features and functionality in Wowza Streaming Engine 4.8.9
Wowza Streaming Engine is a robust, customizable, and scalable media server software that powers reliable streaming of high-quality video and audio to any device, anywhere. Wowza Streaming Engine 4.8.9 contains a variety fixes that help to improve the functionality of the media server software.
We've also introduced a new property to change the audio language of streams with MPEG-DASH stream targets for Akamai destinations. For more information about this new property, see the following article:
New features and functionality in Wowza Streaming Engine 4.8.8.01
Wowza Streaming Engine is a robust, customizable, and scalable media server software that powers reliable streaming of high-quality video and audio to any device, anywhere. Wowza Streaming Engine 4.8.8.01 contains several enhancements and fixes that help to improve the functionality of the media server software.
Security improvements and updates
In Wowza Streaming Engine 4.8.8.01, we've fixed security issues related to how passwords are stored in the admin.password file. You now have the option to encode passwords using Bcrypt or digest hash functions. We've also added a command-line tool that enables you to manage users. Security improvements also include updating permissions on several directories with the Linux installer and updating several libraries, such as the Restlet framework library. For more information about these security improvements, see the following the articles:
- Manage users with the Wowza Streaming Engine CLI password tool
- Change the authentication method for the Wowza Streaming Engine REST API
- Use HTTP providers with the Wowza Streaming Engine Java API
Low-Latency HLS improvements
Wowza Streaming Engine 4.8.8.01 includes several fixes and performance enhancements for Low-Latency HLS (LL-HLS) that allow streams to be played with any HTML5 player and delivered over a CDN that pulls streams from Wowza Streaming Engine. This includes updates to the default values for the optional LL-HLS and CMAF packetizer properties involved in creating both segments and partial segments and configuring the PART-HOLD-BACK attribute in playlists. For more information about streaming LL-HLS, see the following articles:
- Deliver Low-Latency HLS live streams using Wowza Streaming Engine
- About CMAF workflows in Wowza Streaming Engine
Media Cache updates
Wowza Streaming Engine 4.8.8.01 includes new functionality, fixes, and improved logging for Media Cache. For example, you can now download media segments with AWS SDK for Java (2.14.15) for Amazon S3 Media Cache sources and log available storage space in Media Cache stores. For more information about these Media Cache updates, see the following articles:
- Use the AWS SDK for Java to download content from an Amazon S3 bucket for Wowza Streaming Engine Media Cache
- Enable store logging for Wowza Streaming Engine Media Cache
- Configure source properties for Wowza Streaming Engine Media Cache
Logging updates
With Wowza Streaming Engine 4.8.8.01, we updated the logging framework from Apache Log4j 1.x to Apache Log4j 2 for more reliable logging and additional logging functionality. The Log4j 2 logging system provides ample functionality for log formatting, log rolling, and log retrieval for most applications. For more information about the logging updates, see the following article:
NVIDIA NVENC SDK 9 update
With the upgrade to NVIDIA NVENC SDK 9, Wowza Streaming Engine 4.8.8.01 supports higher quality transcoding workflows when using NVIDIA Turing or newer architecture. The Wowza Streaming Engine Transcoder supports NVIDIA 440.xx drivers, but does not yet support NVIDIA 450.xx drivers.
HTTPS load performance update
Wowza Streaming Engine 4.8.8.01 features improved delivery load performance for HTTPS from Wowza Streaming Engine via a more native implementation in the JVM. See up to double the performance for load delivery with HTTPS by enabling Conscrypt with the insertConscryptCryptoProvider property. For more information about enabling Conscrypt, see the following articles:
- Improve SSL configuration for Wowza Streaming Engine
- Improve SSL performance with Java 9 for Wowza Streaming Engine
Get the latest production release
- New Wowza Streaming Engine installation
Installers for the latest Wowza Streaming Engine production or patch build are available on our Downloads webpage and can be used to install a new Wowza Streaming Engine instance. - Update an existing Wowza Streaming Engine installation
To update a Wowza Streaming Engine installation, sign in to your Account Management page using your Wowza account and then check the Downloads tab for the latest updater for your Wowza Streaming Engine version. You must have an active Maintenance and Support contract to receive updaters. For more information, see Wowza Streaming Engine Maintenance and Support.
Patch updates to the latest production release
There is no available patch release for Wowza Streaming Engine 4.8.9 at this time.
Latest beta releases
Between production software releases, Wowza produces beta builds so you can get the latest bug fixes and improvements for Wowza Streaming Engine and get early access to new features being developed. Although the improvements and enhancements have been tested by QA, full regression testing and performance testing hasn't been performed on beta builds, and they should only be used in testing environments. Support for beta builds is fully available, but there is no guarantee of hotfixes. Download the latest beta release updater from the Downloads tab of My Account. See Update your Wowza Streaming Engine installation for installation instructions.
There is no available beta release at this time.
