A stream target is a destination for a stream. Stream targets can be Wowza Video™ edge resources or custom, external destinations. Stream targets let you create more flexible, scalable streaming workflows.
For example, you can use Wowza Video to transcode source video into adaptive bitrate output renditions, and then have an external host such as YouTube deliver the stream rather than have Wowza Video deliver the content to viewers. You can also send source video from an encoder directly to a Wowza CDN target, bypassing the Wowza Video transcoder but using the Wowza CDN target to deliver the content. Or, broadcast a stream to Facebook with a Facebook Live target or to LinkedIn Live with a LinkedIn Live target.
Note: You can add up to 10 stream targets in a three-hour period.
Note: The Advanced transcoders, stream targets, and stream sources feature is currently offered under limited availability meaning the functionality is available to select Wowza Video users. If you need this functionality, please email us at customerservice@wowza.com.
You must have an Advanced Wowza Video user role on your user profile to see the Advanced section in our main navigation to use stream targets and transcoders. An org owner can assign the Advanced Wowza Video user role to you so you can access stream targets.You can get to the Stream Target Details page by clicking Stream Targets in the navigation, and selecting a stream target from the Stream Targets list.
Learn how to deliver streams to a additional destinations by adding a stream target to an existing transcoder in Wowza Video.
1. Create a stream target
Based on the type of stream target you want to add, view the steps for the stream target from the following list and complete the steps to add the new stream target.
Wowza CDN
A Wowza CDN target receives and delivers the stream through a Wowza CDN resource over HLS, by default. This type of target allows playback over iOS, Android, smart TVs, and HTML5-based players. With a Wowza CDN target you can:
- Add token authentication, geoblocking, and force SSL playback through the Wowza CDN Stream Target Details page under the Settings tab for a secure stream after you've created the target.
- Create a Wowza CDN stream target in Wowza Video to use with Wowza Streaming Engine to distribute your stream to viewers.
Optionally, you can send an MPEG-DASH stream for digital rights management (DRM) use on Google and Microsoft devices.
- Under Advanced on the left navigation, click Stream Targets.
- Click + Add New, select Wowza CDN on Fastly.
- Specify the Title. The Title is required but doesn't have to be unique, and it can't be longer than 255 characters.
- Select HLS or DASH or Both under Delivery Protocols. Select DASH if you want to send an MPEG-DASH stream to the target for DRM.
Notes:
- If you select more than one protocol, you'll incur egress charges for each protocol you select.
- See Protect streams for Google Widevine and Microsoft PlayReady devices with EZDRM and the Wowza Video REST API for MPEG-DASH and digital rights management in Wowza Video.
- Click Create Stream Target.
Wowza Video generates a target and displays the Stream Target Details page. You can find the target's playback URLs on the Overview tab. Viewer data for Wowza CDN stream targets is available in near-real time.
Facebook Live
Deliver streams to Facebook Live and broadcast with the Facebook Live Video publishing tool.
- Under Advanced on the left navigation, click Stream Targets.
- Click + Add New, then select Facebook Live.
- Click Continue with Facebook.
- Enter your Facebook account credentials and click Log In.
- Specify the following:
- Target Name – A short, descriptive identifier for the target that differentiates it from other targets in Wowza Video. A Target Name is required, doesn't have to be unique, and can't exceed 255 characters.
- Title – A title to appear with the stream on Facebook. It can be up to 255 characters. Emojis are not supported.
- Description – A description to appear with the stream on Facebook. Emojis are not supported.
- Send a stream to your Timeline.
- Privacy – The Facebook privacy setting that determines who can watch your stream on Facebook: just you (Only me), Friends, Friends of Friends, or all Facebook users (Public).
- Click Save Changes.
Wowza Video generates the target and displays the Stream Target Details page.
LinkedIn Live
Deliver streams to a LinkedIn Live page associated with a personal account or an organization's account.
- Under Advanced on the left navigation, click Stream Targets.
- Click + Add New, then select LinkedIn Live.
- Choose the type of LinkedIn Live target you want to create:
- Person – Stream to LinkedIn on behalf of a personal account.
- Organization – Stream to LinkedIn on behalf of an organization.
Note: You must be an administrator of an organization's LinkedIn Page to grant authorization for the Wowza Video service to stream to LinkedIn Live. See Creating a LinkedIn Page in the LinkedIn Help Center to learn more about pages.
- If you haven't already authorized Wowza Video to stream to LinkedIn, sign in to LinkedIn and click Allow on the authorization request page that opens.
- If you are streaming from an organization's LinkedIn page, select an organization from the Organization field.
- Enter a Target Name to identify the target in Wowza Video.
- Enter a Title to appear with the stream on LinkedIn. The title can be up to 255 characters and emojis are not supported.
- Enter a Description to appear with the stream on LinkedIn. The description can be up to 1300 characters and emojis are not supported.
- Select a Region. Choose a region that is the closest to the broadcast location of the Wowza Video transcoder that you created.
- Click Save Changes.
Wowza Video generates the target and displays the Stream Target Details page.
Custom
Deliver streams to custom destinations over RTMP. The custom target can be a third-party CDN, or any RTMP destination or host, such as YouTube.
- Under Advanced on the left navigation, click Stream Targets.
- Click + Add New, then select Custom.
- Specify the following information.
Note: Look for the information you need to create a custom target in the ingestion settings provided by the destination's software or documentation.
- Target Name – A short, descriptive identifier for the target that differentiates it from other targets in Wowza Video. A Target Name is required, doesn't have to be unique, and can't exceed 255 characters.
- Provider – If the third-party CDN that you're using is listed, choose it from the pop-up menu. Otherwise, choose RTMP or RTMPS.
- Primary URL – The RTMP address, without the preceding protocol and without a trailing slash (/), that the target uses to ingest a stream. For example, [target-domain-or-ip-address]/[EntryPoint]. Hostnames can't contain underscores (_). For help determining the correct RTMP URL, see the destination's help or user guide.
- Stream Name – The name of the stream as defined in your destination's ingestion settings. The protocol, host name, and path components of the stream name URL must be 255 characters or less. The query strings and parameter components of the stream name URL must be 1024 characters or less.
- Target Username – Your username for RTMP authentication by the target.
- Target Password – Your password for RTMP authentication by the target.
- Confirm Target Password – Your password for RTMP authentication by the target.
- Click Save Changes.
Wowza Video generates the target and displays the Stream Target Details page.
2. Add the stream target to a transcoder
- Under Advanced, click Transcoders.
- Select a transcoder on the Transcoders page.
- Click the Outputs & Targets tab of the Transcoder Details page. The Outputs & Targets tab displays the output renditions for your transcoder.
- For the output rendition you want to add the stream target to, click the three dots icon on the output.
- Select Add Existing Target, then select the stream target you created.
- Click Save Changes.
- Repeat these steps to add stream targets to additional output renditions.
The stream target is now added to an output rendition associated with transcoder.
