Wowza Streaming Engine Manager Basics and Live Stream Set Up

Justin Miller:

In this video, we’ll review all the main aspects of Wowza Streaming Engine Manager needed to set up and deploy a live video stream. We’ll be using OBS Studio to stream live and VLC Media Player to play back the stream locally.

To begin, you’ll need to log into your Wowza Streaming Engine Manager as an administrator. We highly suggest running Wowza Streaming Engine on a static IP address so you can access it from anywhere. Once you’ve logged in, you’ll see all your basic information laid out on the homepage. From Server, you’ll be able to make server configurations and from Applications, you can manage live streams and video on demand. Under Status, you’ll see current source and playback connections as well as CPU, memory, heap, and disc usage. Application Connection Settings gives you the IP address and port number necessary to publish a live stream to your media server, but more details can be found under the specific application.

Test Players let you test your sample VOD asset to ensure Wowza Streaming Engine is running properly. To view specific protocols, you’ll need to add the plugins necessary to your browser, but usually MPEG-DASH should work by default. For help with getting started, you can always look here for basic assistance.

Under server, you can make all the server configurations you need using the left menu. For example, under Source Authentication you can secure your source connection by using Add Source and entering a username and password. You may have already created one when you logged into Wowza Streaming Engine Manager for the first time. We’ll use that information in this video to publish a stream. In many cases, configuration options will have subsections within tabs and require access via the Edit button. They may also include an option to cancel any changes and from the top-right corner the ability to restart the server or stop and restart a virtual host.

The Help panel on the right can be hidden whenever you want. It contains detailed information on configuration options currently being displayed.

Using the arrow next to Applications lets you add an application. There are a number of types available for use depend upon your setup. Current applications can be accessed from the same drop down or from the left menu once in Applications. You’ll also see the option to Add Application at the top.

We’ll be working with the current application which we can edit as necessary. For example, I’ll edit by checking multiple playback types and unchecking low-latency stream. We’ll test our stream using the HLS protocol by the end of this video. For any changes to an application, the application must be restarted. Under any setting, you should see the option in the top right to access the Test Player, Copy the application, Restart the application or Delete the application. The Help panel also contains current details, which of course can be hidden.

With an application ready, we can publish a stream to it. Under Incoming Streams, we can see there’s currently nothing being sent. Under Sources, we can look at the health panel and see the necessary connection settings in order to publish a stream. Using the host server, port, and application information.

I’ll go over to OBS studio and here under Settings, I’ll go to Stream and using the custom service I’ll enter the publish info. I’ll be sending an RTMP stream using the host server IP address :hostport/applicationname. The stream key can be whatever I want to name it in order to remember it and using authentication, I can add in my source authentication information. When I’m ready to go in OBS, I can start the stream.

Back in Wowza Streaming Engine Manager, I’ll confirm under Incoming Streams that my published stream is connected to my application. By selecting it, I can verify it in a test player. While MPEG-DASH usually works by default, you may want to add a plugin for Apple HLS to see it in action. This is a good idea for any protocol you transmux your stream into. You can also copy the URL and test it in a local player such as VLC Media Player which accepts RTMP, RTSP, and HLS. You may also want to test it through other players online. However, unless Wowza Streaming Engine is running off a static IP address, it will most likely error out. Thanks for streaming and have a great day.