Version: Wowza Streaming Engine™ 4.9.3+2 build 20250225162611 released February 26, 2025.
Java support: Wowza Streaming Engine 4.9.3 is compiled using Java 17 (OpenJDK Java SE JRE 17.0.12) but can be used with Java versions 17 or 21. The Wowza Streaming Engine 4.9.3 installer and updater include a Java Runtime Environment (JRE) for Java 21 (OpenJDK Java SE JRE 21.0.3). During updates, we verify that Java 21 is present. If Java 21 isn't detected, the update is canceled, and you can install the JRE 21 provided with the updater before retrying the upgrade. You can manually roll back your Java version if needed. For more details, see Wowza Streaming Engine support for Java.
New features and functionality in Wowza Streaming Engine 4.9.3
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 4.9.3 doesn't contain major new features or functionality. However, this is an important service release that includes various security patches and bug fixes to make Wowza Streaming Engine more robust and reliable. For more, see Detailed list of changes in Wowza Streaming Engine 4.9.3.
Installation and update considerations for Wowza Streaming Engine 4.9.3
If you're updating to Wowza Streaming Engine 4.9.3 from a base installation of Wowza Streaming Engine 4.9.2 or earlier, see Updating to Wowza Streaming Engine 4.9.0 and later.
Note: Wowza Streaming Engine 4.8.28 and later doesn't include an updater or installer for macOS.
When using the Wowza Streaming Engine 4.9.3 installer to add 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 4.9.3
Java version information
Wowza Streaming Engine 4.9.0 - 4.9.3 is officially certified, thoroughly tested, and optimized to run seamlessly with the Java 21 JRE. You get the following Java features:
- Installer details – Wowza Streaming Engine 4.9.0 - 4.9.3 is compiled using Java 17 (OpenJDK Java SE JRE 17.0.12), but new installations include a JRE for Java 21 (OpenJDK Java SE JRE 21.0.3). You can roll back to Java 17 if needed. Older Java versions (16 and below) are no longer supported and cannot be used with Wowza Streaming Engine 4.9.0 and later.
- Updater details – When using the updater for Wowza Streaming Engine 4.9.0 - 4.9.3, we verify that the Java 21 Virtual Machine (JVM) is present before completing the upgrade. If Java 21 isn't detected on the machine, the update is canceled with a message containing recommended steps. If you need a new version of Java, the updater includes JRE 21 with instructions explaining how to copy it from the root of the installer to the Wowza Streaming Engine installation folder. When you're updating to Wowza Streaming Engine 4.9.0 - 4.9.3 from a base installation of Wowza Streaming Engine 4.8.28 or earlier, check these considerations.
- Supported Java versions – If you prefer, you can manually install a different Java version. We support Java versions 17 or 21 with Wowza Streaming Engine 4.9.0 - 4.9.3.
While we tested Wowza Streaming Engine 4.8.28 - 4.9.3 with the Java 21 Runtime Environment (JRE), we didn't recompile it using Java Development Kit (JDK) 21. If you build a custom module using Java 21, it may not work with Wowza Streaming Engine if your source code includes Java 21 features.
Note: New installations of Wowza Streaming Engine 4.8.28 and later deliver generational support for the Z Garbage Collector (ZGC). To use Java 21 with Generational ZGC on Windows, you must be running a 64-bit version of Windows 10 (version 1803 or later) or Windows Server 2019 or later. You also need a 64-bit JVM.
If your Wowza Streaming Engine workflow uses custom modules or plugins, we suggest testing them with Wowza Streaming Engine 4.8.28 - 4.9.3 in a non-production environment before updating your media server software. The following Java modules are included with the JRE and installer for the Wowza Streaming Engine 4.8.28 - 4.9.3:
- 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
- jdk.attach (available with Wowza Streaming Engine 4.8.28 and later)
- jdk.internal.jvmstat (available with Wowza Streaming Engine 4.8.28 and later)
- jdk.jcmd (available with Wowza Streaming Engine 4.8.28 and later)
- jdk.jfr (available with Wowza Streaming Engine 4.8.28 and later)
- java.net.http (available with Wowza Streaming Engine 4.8.28 and later)
If you have other dependencies, you must install a Java 17 JRE or JDK for Wowza Streaming Engine 4.9.0 - 4.9.3 that includes these dependencies. For more information, see Manually install and troubleshoot Java on Wowza Streaming Engine.
You can also check the Wowza Streaming Engine support for Java page to learn more about the different Java versions we support.
Detailed list of changes in Wowza Streaming Engine 4.9.3
These changes were made since the release of Wowza Streaming Engine 4.9.2:
- Added the ability to create HLS stream targets with alternative language audio tracks when using push publish map files and the cupertino-cloudstorage profile.
- Fixed an NVIDIA GPU-accelerated transcoding issue to restore full GPU performance in Wowza Streaming Engine. Performance improvements were tested using NVIDIA driver version 550.127.05. To improve performance by 20 to 30 percent, modify your transrate.xml file. Add a <Parameter> section to the <Video>/<Parameters> container in each <Encode> block with the following configuration:
<Encode> <Video> <Parameters> <Parameter> <Name>nvenc.preset</Name> <Value>1</Value> <Type>Long</Type> </Parameter> </Parameters> </Video> </Encode>
- Fixed an issue where audio and video-only stream target renditions were missing _ao and _vo rendition parameters in chunklist URLs and media file names.
- Fixed org.springframework/spring-webmvc 6.1.10 CVE-2024-38819 and CVE-2024-38816 security vulnerabilities.
- Fixed org.apache.tomcat.embed/tomcat-embed-core 10.1.26 CVE-2024-56337 and CVE-2024-50379 security vulnerabilities.
- Fixed com.google.protobuf/protobuf-java 3.25.3 CVE-2024-7254 security vulnerability.
- Fixed an issue causing misleading error messaging when the Wowza Streaming Engine updater runs from an incorrect directory.
- Fixed an issue causing Wowza Streaming Engine stream targets to insert unnecessary PushPublishMap.txt parameters for wowzaVideoTranscoder.width and wowzaVideoTranscoder.height.
- Fixed an issue related to creating multiple log4j-api JAR files when using the updater and causing Wowza Streaming Engine startup failures.
- Fixed an issue with Wowza Streaming Engine 4.9.0 and later related to sending live streams to the Akamai HD network for distributed delivery.
Known issues with Wowza Streaming Engine 4.9.3
For a detailed list of currently known issues, see Known issues with Wowza Streaming Engine.
