Important: A newer version of Wowza Streaming Engine is available. For more information, see Latest software updates for Wowza Streaming Engine.
Version: Wowza Streaming Engine™ 4.8.26+3 build 20231207183517 released December 11, 2023.
Java support: Wowza Streaming Engine 4.8.26 is built on Java 11 (OpenJDK Java SE JRE 11.0.2) but can be used with Java versions 11 - 12. For more information, see Manually install and troubleshoot Java on Wowza Streaming Engine.
Latest patch: Wowza Streaming Engine 4.8.26+4 build 20231212155517. The latest Docker cloud platform image includes this patch update.
New features and functionality in Wowza Streaming Engine 4.8.26
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 4.8.26 contains enhancements and fixes that improve the functionality of the media server software.
Added CMAF improvements
To lead innovation and move the industry towards better playback and packaging standards, we've improved our Common Media Application Format (CMAF) workflows. SRT and CMAF formats offer the best end-to-end HEVC-capable playback over HLS, with significant bitrate reductions that can eliminate cost and bandwidth concerns. Version 4.8.26 of Wowza Streaming Engine delivers the following CMAF enhancements:
- Added the ability to configure live applications in Wowza Streaming Engine Manager to deliver CMAF streams. This UI-based approach provides a more convenient alternative to the previous XML method used for the same goal. Learn how to create CMAF streams using Wowza Streaming Engine Manager.
- Added a push publish workflow to distribute CMAF HLS stream targets to Wowza Video and cloud providers like Oracle and AWS. To learn more about this new feature, see Use CMAF to distribute live streams from Wowza Streaming Engine.
Updated castLabs DRMtoday module
We've updated the setup and documentation for the castLabs DRMtoday module to reflect its support for key rotation in version 3.1.0. Key rotation enhances security and minimizes vulnerabilities by allowing you to rotate keys that encrypt content over time. For more details about setting up secure video delivery in Wowza Streaming Engine, see the updated Set up castLabs DRMtoday article.
Improved AMD Xilinx accelerated transcoding
In Wowza Streaming Engine 4.8.25, we added support to transcode WebRTC inputs with the AMD Xilinx Alveo U30 card in preview mode. While the preview version has some limitations, we've improved the stability for WebRTC inputs when using the U30 cards in Wowza Streaming Engine 4.8.26. These enhancements limit the number of crashes when resolution changes occur with input sources. For more, see WebRTC input-specific limitations in Wowza Streaming Engine.
Installation and update considerations for Wowza Streaming Engine 4.8.26
If you're updating to Wowza Streaming Engine 4.8.26 from a base installation of Wowza Streaming Engine 4.8.17 or earlier, see Updating to Wowza Streaming Engine version 4.8.18 or later.
When using the Wowza Streaming Engine 4.8.26 installer to install a new instance of Wowza Streaming Engine on Windows, you may need to install additional dependencies to ingest SRT MediaCaster streams or use the generic SRT stream targets destination to publish an SRT stream. For more information, see our Ingest and publish an SRT stream guide.
For step-by-step instructions on how to install or update Wowza Streaming Engine, see the following articles:
- Install – Install and configure Wowza Streaming Engine
- Update – Update your Wowza Streaming Engine installation
Breaking changes in Wowza Streaming Engine 4.8.26
Java versions
Wowza Streaming Engine 4.8.18 (or later) is compiled using Java 11 (OpenJDK Java SE JRE 11.0.2) and supports Java versions 11 - 12. Earlier versions of Java aren't supported.
Important notes about changing the Java version:
- Wowza Streaming Engine versions before 4.8.18 were compiled using Java 9. If you're updating an earlier installation of Wowza Streaming Engine to version 4.8.18 (or later), you must install OpenJDK Java SE JRE 11.0.2 before running the Wowza Streaming Engine updater. For your convenience, we've provided the OpenJDK Java SE JRE 11.0.2 files as a zip on the Downloads tab of your Wowza account.
- If your Wowza Streaming Engine workflow uses custom modules or plugins, we recommend testing them with Wowza Streaming Engine 4.8.18 (or later) in a non-production environment before updating your media server software. The following Java modules are included:
- java.base
- java.datatransfer
- java.desktop
- java.instrument
- java.logging
- java.management
- java.management.rmi
- java.naming
- java.prefs
- java.rmi
- java.scripting
- java.scripting.jgss
- java.security.sasl
- java.sql
- java.transaction.xa
- java.xml
- jdk.crypto.cryptoki
- jdk.crypto.ec
- jdk.httpserver
- jdk.management
- jdk.management.agent
- jdk.naming.rmi
- jdk.unsupported
- jdk.xml.dom
- If you have other dependencies, you must install a Java 11 JRE or JDK that includes all your dependencies.
For more information, see Manually install and troubleshoot Java on Wowza Streaming Engine.
Detailed list of changes in Wowza Streaming Engine 4.8.26
Changes since Wowza Streaming Engine 4.8.25
- Added RTSPS to the list of supported protocols when creating new stream files in Wowza Streaming Engine and Manager.
- Updated our dependency on the jetty-server library to version 9.4.51 to fix a security vulnerability.
- Added the ability to configure live applications in Wowza Streaming Engine Manager to deliver CMAF streams.
- Added a push publish workflow to distribute CMAF HLS stream targets to Wowza Video and cloud providers like Oracle and AWS.
- Updated the setup and documentation for a new castLabs DRMtoday module that includes key rotation support for live streams.
- Deprecated support for Wowza GoCoder from Wowza Streaming Engine Manager.
- Improved stability for WebRTC inputs when using the AMD Xilinx Alveo U30 card for accelerated transcoding.
- Fixed an issue with static ETags that impacted hashing for HLS chunks and DASH segments.
- Fixed an issue where the timescale attribute was missing from the <EventStream> element in the MPEG-DASH manifest.
- Fixed an issue preventing Facebook Live stream targets from connecting to Facebook business pages.
- Fixed an issue with AMD Xilinx U30 cards, preventing each device from reaching full capacity with 1080p24 sources.
- Fixed an issue causing unrecognized opcodes to disconnect WebRTC streams on iPhone iOS 16 and 17 devices.
- Fixed an issue causing audio sync issues when reading media packets with duplicate timecodes in MP4 files.
- Fixed an issue related to bad RTCP compound packets causing an infinite loop when deserializing packet data.
Known issues with Wowza Streaming Engine 4.8.26
For a detailed list of currently known issues, see Known issues with Wowza Streaming Engine.
